


The Book of Love

by Antonio_Calavera



Series: Those Who Favor Fire [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Final Fantasy X, Frozen (2013), His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/F, Happy Ending, Intense Violence, Sexual Content, Suicide Attempt, bereavement
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-02
Updated: 2014-04-02
Packaged: 2018-01-16 07:05:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1336471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antonio_Calavera/pseuds/Antonio_Calavera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The finale of the trilogy that began with "Those Who Favor Fire." Elsa and Anna seek to unlock Kingdom Hearts and restore Arendelle, but to do such a thing will require more of them than they ever believed possible. Their journey becomes a dimension-hopping odyssey, and a fist-pumping ode to the power of love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Book of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [From: Elsa](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/41068) by manicmethod. 



_Suppose we_ have _only dreamed, or made up, all those things – trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours_ is _the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow._

  


\- Puddleglum the Marsh-wiggle, _The Silver Chair_

  


~~v~~

  


Elsa and Anna flew through the blind eternities on Kaal's back. Worlds flickered like stars in the dark, but one source of light outshone all, and Kaal took them unerringly toward it. Presently they found themselves perched on an outcropping of rock.

  


It was dark, and there was a door.

  


Anna brandished the Sword of Summer and Winter at the great door, and a beam of light shone from the keyblade's tip. It struck the door and coated it in delicate patterns of ice and fire. Anna let out a gasp and nearly dropped the sword, and the beam shut off.

  


Panting, she turned to Elsa, who walked behind her without a word and placed her arms around her. One alabaster hand cradled hers on the handle of the keyblade, and the beam of light shone out again, stronger than before. A drop of sweat rolled down her forehead, the world grew dark, and it was only when Elsa let out a soft moan that she realized how exhausted they both were. Elsa's grip loosened, Anna's knees buckled, and they came to a moment later in each others' arms in front of the locked and unfeeling door.

  


Kaal fanned them with his wings. “Are you alright, kiirre?”

  


Elsa shook her head, and her eyes shone. “We need... we need to open this door. We have to save Arendelle! The sword's not strong enough! What are we missing?”

  


Kaal leaned down and prodded the keyblade with a claw. “This sword's power came from the enchanted bloodline of YolFoJun. That means it came from my world, Mundus. We may find the answer there.”

  


Anna groaned. “Why can't anything ever be easy?”

  


Kaal gingerly ran a claw through her hair. “My world is beautiful, kiirre. And I think you two are in dire need of some beauty right now. On my back! We ride for Skyrim!”

  


~~v~~

  


The ancient dragon sat deep in thought on the mountaintop. There was a flash of light, and then there was another dovah overhead. PaarThurNax, grandmaster of the Greybeards and de facto dragon-in-chief of all of Skyrim, spread his wings and made ready for battle, but when the other dragon set down on the mountaintop with hardly a sound, he allowed himself to relax. The dovah liked big entrances, and he had only ever known one who deigned to land silently.

  


“ Drem yol lok, KaalVurShaan.”

  


The dovah bowed, and two slender humans slid off his back and bowed as well. “Drem yol lok, thuri.” Kaal's eyes widened. “PaarThurNax? What has happened to you?”

  


“No doubt the millenia have changed me, KaalVurShaan. You are not changed at all. Where have you been?”

  


Kaal reeled. “Millenia?”

  


“Clearly, we have much to discuss. When Alduin was cast forward in time, we all thought you had been drawn into his wake.”

  


“I was. But we were sent through space as well as time. Alduin and I emerged in another world, and he destroyed it in order to escape into the pathways between worlds. I was not strong enough to stop him, and these children are that world's last survivors. May I present NonvulOdJud, her majesty Elsa the noble snow queen of Arendelle, and her sister DunKoorKulaas, her highness gracious Anna the summer princess.”

  


“I am sorry for your loss. Alduin caused much suffering, but we have taken care of that.”

  


Anna's eyebrows arched up to her hairline. “You mean he's dead?”

  


PaarThurNax turned to her. “Alduin returned not too long ago, and was defeated by the Dragonborn of Prophecy, though not before resurrecting many of the dov. The surviving dragons have sworn fealty to me, and I am teaching them how to coexist peacefully with mortals.”

  


Anna breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”

  


Paarthurnax rumbled. “I assure you it was not so for us.”

  


Elsa stepped forward. Anna put a hand on her shoulder so she was facing PaarThurNax, and the dragon noticed for the first time that she was blind. “My people and I owe you a debt of gratitude, PaarThurNax, and for more than just avenging my world. I am particularly thankful for your student's courage and wisdom, without which we would not have survived. We believe that we have a chance to restore our world which was destroyed, and we find ourselves in need of your guidance.”

  


The wizened dragon smiled. “Ah, this shall be a good conversation.”

  


~~v~~

  


It was indeed. They sat in the shadow of the Word Wall atop the mountain and Kaal related the story of his adventures. He told of his meeting with the sisters, of the act of love that had so mystified him, and of the heritage of the queen and princess, which stemmed from the dragon priest YolFoJun. Paarthurnax related the stories of the thousands of years he had spent on the Throat of the World, his work on the pacifistic Way of the Voice, and the rise of the Dragonborn. Anna had shivered through the first hour of it, and then Elsa set a small snowstorm over her head which repelled the cold wind but did not feel cold to her at all.

  


PaarThurNax noticed. “Is this a form of magic native to your world?”

  


Elsa spoke. “We have found that the power we inherited from YolFoJun is immensely more powerful than the spells now practiced by the humans of your world, but is controllable only through love. We believe that this power, channeled through this artifact-” Anna set the keyblade in front of the two dovah. “- will allow us to open the door to the Heart of the Worlds and thus restore our world.”

  


Kaal continued. “I took them there and watched them try their utmost to unlock the door, but the way was shut against them.”

  


Anna spoke. “It felt like the key fit the lock, but we weren't strong enough to turn it.”

  


PaarThurNax tilted his head, and Anna smiled as she was reminded of Kaal. “Then the lack is not in the key, but in you. I am fascinated by this love you speak of. Many of my mortal students mentioned it, but I thought it foreign to the dov until you told me how it allowed you to quickly learn a Word of Power.” He indicated the Word Wall. “Could you demonstrate?”

  


Anna turned to the wall and thought of Elsa. “ _Yol!_ ” A gout of flame splashed against the wall, followed shortly by Elsa's. PaarThurNax nodded. “Only the Dragonborn ever learned the rotmulaag this quickly, and even then he had to consume dragon souls to do it. This is a thing quite foreign to me, but if love empowers the magic of this blade that is also a key, then your love must be made stronger.”

  


Elsa blushed. “I can't imagine it being stronger than it already is.”

  


Kaal spoke. “Then perhaps it is an issue of understanding. Is there a place is Skyrim, thuri, that teaches the nature of love?”

  


“One has indeed arisen in the years since you left us. There is a place in the city of Riften, east of here. It is called the Temple of Mara. You may wish to start there.”

  


~~v~~

  


The aurorae shone bright in the sky as Elsa and Anna awoke leaning against the Word Wall, aureoled in flame in each others' arms. They gazed into each others' eyes, and Anna was about to move in for a kiss when a familiar rumble echoed across the mountaintop and she looked up to see half a dozen dragons staring at them from the shadows. She gasped and held Elsa close, and PaarThurNax spoke in a tone that sounded entirely too soothing to be coming from a dragon. “You must excuse our curiosity, young ones. Unslaad dovah bahlok fah vomindok. Immortals crave novelty, and we have never seen anything like you before.”

  


Kaal spoke. “We are agreed that I must speed you on your way to this Temple of Mara as quickly as possible. We ask that you pass on to us what they teach you.”

  


Without letting go of Anna, Elsa replied, “We will, Kaal.”

  


PaarThurNax called one of the Greybeards to bring supplies, and Elsa and Anna were given food, boots, and long grey hooded robes. There was a long moonlit flight, and Kaal set them down some distance outside the walls. “I leave you now, children, to learn the Way of the Voice from my master. Should you need me, shout my name.” There was a rush of air, and he was gone. Anna took Elsa's hand and guided her as they walked toward the gate. The Rift was beautiful, and Anna turned for a moment to admire some mountain flowers-

  


“Oof!”

  


Anna turned around to see Elsa standing in front of a tree, rubbing her nose. Anna clapped a hand over her mouth and rushed to her, and it was a while before Elsa could convince her to walk on and stop apologizing. They walked to the gate hand in hand, and a guard in a full-face helmet stopped them. “Hold there. Before I let you into Riften, you need to pay the visitor's tax.”

  


Elsa and Anna looked at each other. Anna spoke. “Um, we don't actually have any-”

  


“Fine. Have a good walk to the next city.”

  


Elsa spoke before Anna could protest. “Please, sir, we are but pilgrims and have only a bag of bread and the clothes on our backs.”

  


“Fine. I'll take the bread.”

  


Anna bristled. “How can you tax penniless travelers?”

  


“Like so. Give me your bag.”

  


Defeated, Anna reached for her bag, but came up with only the strap. The bag itself had been cut away. “What? Oh no! Our food!”

  


“Excuses, excuses. Go away and stop bothering me.”

  


Elsa looked up at him. “Fine. I'm glad I don't have to look at you.”

  


The guard looked into Elsa's sightless eyes and shifted uncomfortably. “Oh, you're blind. Er, well, I'm sure we can make some allowances. Go right in, and stay out of trouble.”

  


The pair walked past him with eyes downcast, the doors shut behind them, and they were in Riften. Elsa wrinkled her nose at the smell. Anna took the strap of her bag and Elsa let her tie it into a makeshift blindfold. “Here. We'll probably get a bit more sympathy if people know you're blind.”

  


“That won't work on me.” Anna gasped as an enormous man stepped from the shadows near the gate. “I don't know you. Name's Maul. You in Riften looking for trouble?”

  


Elsa spoke. “We are pilgrims to the Temple of Mara and are no trouble to anyone.”

  


Maul's eyes narrowed. “A likely story, but you don't look like pilgrims to me. Pilgrims are beat down, and you walk like royalty. Those robes are like nothing I've seen in the Rift. And,” He brushed a hand against Elsa's cheek, “you're too clean and pretty to be common rabble.” Elsa saw Anna's aura flare, but before the younger woman could blow their cover, another voice broke in from behind Maul.

  


“Harassing blind pilgrims, Maul? This is a new low even for you.”

  


Maul turned and drew his dagger, then took a step back. “Mjoll. I told you to stay out of my way.”

  


“I'm not the one with my weapon drawn. I will escort these pilgrims to the temple. They'll be no trouble to you, your precious Black-Briars, or anyone else.”

  


Maul glared at them. “Fine. You aren't worth my time.” He shouldered his way past Mjoll and stalked off, and Anna got her first good look at their benefactor.

  


Mjoll stood tall, her hair fiery in the moonlight. The left side of her face was covered in war paint, and she wore bulky iron armor. The sword at her side was made of green and gold materials Anna had never seen before, and glowed with what was unmistakably magic. She walked up to them. “Are you alright?”

  


“Yeah... thanks to you.”

  


“Don't mention it, child. Welcome to Riften. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. I'm Mjoll. They call me the Lioness.”

  


Anna smiled. “I can see why.”

  


Mjoll walked them to the temple, and Anna breathed a sigh of relief as she led Elsa across the threshold. “There are no truly safe places in this city,” said Mjoll, “but few would be brazen enough to harm anyone in here. I must return to my patrol. Farewell.”

  


Elsa bowed. “You have our gratitude.”

  


Mjoll smiled. “Maul was right about one thing. You do have the air of nobility around you. Be careful.” And she was gone.

  


Elsa and Anna walked into the temple. It was deserted, but the candles on the altar burned with a soft glow. They sat on one of the pews. Elsa put her arms around her lover, and the two were asleep within minutes.

  


As they drifted into dreaming, the shrine on the altar glowed, and a moment later, so did they.

  


~~v~~

  


Rubbing her swollen belly, Dinya Balu walked into the main hall of the temple and smiled as she saw the two young women asleep on one of the pews. _Ah, here they are, as promised_.

  


She placed a hand on their shoulders. “Good morning.”

  


Elsa and Anna rose hand in hand. Elsa bowed, and Anna followed suit. “Good morning. You must be the priestess of this temple.”

  


“ Indeed. I am Dinya Balu. Lady Mara bids you welcome to Her Benevolence. I have been expecting you.” The pair looked at each other. Anna spoke. “You were?”

  


“Lady Mara fills my mind with visions of love in peril. You have figured prominently in them, and- oh!” Her hand went to her belly, and she smiled knowingly. Elsa felt Anna's heart skip a beat. Dinya smiled. “My child is growing well. As I was saying, it fills me with joy to see you both together at last. You have been guided here and were always meant to be here.”

  


Elsa spoke. “Thank you, priestess. I am Elsa, and this is my si- this is Anna. Can you tell us more about this place? Who is Mara?”

  


“We are devoted to the Goddess Mara, who gave mortals the gift of love that they might have a hint of eternity. Her blessings are many. To love is to know the true nature of the gods.”

  


“Then we have come to the right place. We are on a quest – one of terrible importance – and we need to find out everything we can about the power of love.”

  


“Not all can hear the broad echoes of deepest dawn. To receive the touch of Mara, you must first act as her hands in the world – and beyond. Explore the facets of the infinite jewel. Are you prepared, then, to help bring the light across worlds?”

  


The couple shared a glance, then nodded. “We are,” said Elsa.

  


“The dawn surely opens upon you, children. You must bear its light that all may see. You are here for a reason. We have often sent pilgrims on quests such as this, to help love in peril and write pages in the Book of Love. But until your arrival we have lacked the means to spread the light across worlds. Take this symbol of Mara. She will guide you.”

  


Elsa let the Sword of Summer and Winter materialize in her hands, and Anna attached the amulet to it as though it were a keychain.

  


The priestess continued. “Mara has reflected an image to me. There is a world that was once caught in a spiral of death. It was love that brought the cycle to an end, but it required that the lovers involved be separated. Now, one of them is doing her best to convince herself that this is how things are meant to be. Teach her otherwise. The world is Spira. The woman, Yuna. This is the prayer heard by the goddess and relayed to her servants. Return when she has seen her path. I will entreat Mara on your behalf.”

  


~~v~~

  


Yuna had just finished talking to Tasgio about his grandson when the commotion started. Yaibal, the brat, had burst into the temple in typical fashion, and she had jumped when he shouted in her ear that Besaid was under attack by dark wizards and that he would defend her. Her ears were still ringing when Wakka threw him out of the temple, and it took all of her concentration to recover her inner balance as she walked to the beach. A crowd had formed and was blocking her view. Wakka was trying his best to disperse them but was having no luck, so she took her rod and rapped it, once, on a rock at her feet.

  


The crowd instantly fell silent. She walked forward, they parted like water, and it was then that she laid eyes on the intruders. Her eyes widened. Kneeling on the beach were two of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. They faced each other and held hands, but what had really caught the townsfolk's attention was that they were both wearing dresses that looked like they were made of ice, and both of them appeared to be on _fire_. She stepped toward them, and the islanders drew back, no doubt expecting some kind of dramatic fight. Yaibal rushed out of the crowd behind her, waving his fists. “I'll save you lady Yun-erk!” He gagged and fell to his knees as Yuna casually swung her rod into his solar plexus without looking. She smiled a little and then fought back a wave of guilt. “Good morning.”

  


The flame surrounding the couple died out, and they stood and faced her. The taller one, blonde and blindfolded, whispered something to her partner.

  


“ I told you it would work.” Elsa smiled and turned. Anna oriented her so she was facing the woman with the staff, and she spoke. “Good morning. I am Elsa, and this is Anna. We are looking for Yuna.”

  


A murmur went through the crowd and Yuna bowed. “You have found her.”

  


“I am glad. We would speak with you in private, if we may.”

  


“I would be honored. Wakka, please prepare tea for our visitors in the temple, and clear it so we can have privacy.”

  


“No doubt Anna is tired of leading me around. I would be honored,” Elsa stuck out a hand, “if you would lead me there.” Yuna took her hand. “Of course.” Anna followed and tried not to pout.

  


As they walked up to the temple, Yaibal lurched to his knees. “I understand, Lady Yuna. You did it to protect me! You're my hero!” He collapsed to the sand again and the crowd took this as their cue to disperse.

  


~~v~~

  


Anna glared at the statues inside the temple, and Elsa gazed at Anna. When Yuna left them for a moment to give instructions to Wakka, Elsa kissed Anna on the cheek. “You're adorable when you're jealous.”

  


“Jealous? Who, me?”

  


Elsa nuzzled her. “Letting someone lead you around when you cannot see for yourself is an act of trust.” She squeezed Anna's hand. “I know this very well. I was letting her know that we trusted her.”

  


Anna blinked, mollified. “Is this one of those queenly things?”

  


Elsa chuckled. “Yes it is. I have to let other people hold my hand. But you're the only one who gets to hold... other parts of me.” Anna turned a beautiful shade of red just in time for Yuna to reenter the temple.

  


“Welcome to Besaid Island. What brings you here?”

  


“As you've probably guessed, we're not from around here. We are travelers between the worlds, and while our story is long and dramatic, we're actually here to listen to yours.”

  


Yuna blinked. “Why?”

  


Anna spoke. “Well, we're sort of love experts in training, and a very reliable source told us that you have one heck of a love story to tell!”

  


Elsa extended a hand. “We know this is an imposition, but we're on a very important mission and a lot of people are depending on us learning as much as we can from you about love.”

  


Yuna took her hand. “Alright. This is my story...”

  


~~v~~

  


Three hours later, Yuna wept brokenly in Anna's arms. The redhead held her tightly, and Elsa sat beside them, blindfold moist. “... and after all that, he was a dream, just a dream of the fayth. I was so young when I decided I could give it all up for my world, but then he was there, and he convinced me that I could save the world and live, and then I lost him. He gave his life in place of mine. He tried to hold me one last time and I never felt it! A dream, just a dream... but he was my new dream.” Anna felt her own eyes well up as the girl cried out. “Why! Someone tell me why. Somebody make it make sense. Someone please tell me how this is fair...”

  


Anna held her and imagined Yuna as a child, deciding that she would become a summoner and die to save the world. She thought of Elsa at the same age, closing the gates and sealing herself away from the person she loved most in order to protect her. In her mind she heard Elsa's broken sobs when Anna had been frozen, and Elsa had thought that she had lost that which she had been willing to risk everything for. Eyes closed and leaking, she turned her head toward her lover and saw her now, not merely as a corona of flame, but as a sparkling storm of blue, and the blue of her eyes was the most brilliant and beautiful of all.

  


The storm passed, and Yuna withdrew, wiping her eyes. “I am sorry. I have shamed myself.”

  


Anna shook her head and did not let go of her hands. “You're not wrong to feel this way, Yuna.”

  


Yuna shook her head. “The past is in the past, Anna.” Beside them, Elsa gasped. “I can't... I can't go on thinking like this, I'll _die_ if I do! It is... ungrateful to think about what was lost when we have so much. “We have peace for the first time in a thousand years, my best friends are expecting, and I even have a shot at making everyone happy by marrying the son of the chairman of New Yevon. It's not much... but it's enough.”

  


Anna shook her head, but it was Elsa who spoke. “Yuna, did you actually see him die?”

  


Yuna paused then shook her head.

  


“ Yuna, one constant we've found between the worlds is that love and magic have a great deal to do with each other. Isn't it just possible...”

  


Yuna jumped to her feet. “How dare you? How dare you do this to me? I was alright until you asked me to remember everythi-”

  


She stopped. Closed her eyes. “The dreams... the dreams that have faded...”

  


Anna finished for her. “Never forget them.”

  


Elsa spoke. “Yuna, when I was young I couldn't control my powers. I nearly killed Anna by accident, and I was so scared of ever hurting her again that I locked myself away for thirteen years. Sometimes... sometimes the pain would be too much, and I would try to forget about her.” Anna's mouth dropped open.

  


Elsa smiled wanly. “I never could. Even on the day when I ran away and decided to let it go... I decided that there would be no right, no wrong, no rules for me, that I didn't have to hide, that I was free... but I wasn't free. I could never be free for so long as I loved her, nor would I ever wish to be. I would rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing her. Yuna... Yuna, it's not wrong to want more. I put my life on hold for thirteen years, I gave up my childhood one day at a time, and I was willing to live my whole life alone so Anna could be safe. It was Anna who convinced me that I could have it all, that love would make all things possible, that she could be safe but also with me. I didn't see it until it was almost too late. I froze her with my powers. I heard her last breath leave her body. I held her and begged for her to be returned to me, to trade my life for hers, anything. And all it took was for us to love each other and know it. Yuna, when it comes to things like this... love can do the impossible. Life isn't a battle where you have to lose in order to win. Yuna, promise me that you'll let yourself feel hope, that you'll let yourself _want_.”

  


Yuna nodded, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks. “I'll try. I promise.”

  


~~v~~

  


There was a tearful goodbye and promises to visit, and Yuna had left to walk by the waterfall and think about all that had been said. Elsa and Anna took the keyblade and felt through the air. An invisible gate in an invisible wall opened, and they were gone.

  


~~v~~

  


Maramal gasped when he first laid eyes on the travelers his wife had told him about. Elsa and Anna stirred, and the corona of heatless flame that surrounded them both vanished. “Good morning,” Elsa said.

  


“ Good morning,” he said. “I am Maramal, priest of Mara. My wife, Dinya, told me about you. I am honored that you have chosen to quest on our behalf.”

  


“In truth, Maramal, we learned as much from the lady Yuna as she did from us... but that was part of the intent, wasn't it?”

  


Maramal smiled knowingly as Dinya Balu entered the room. “You were right about them, love.” He turned to them. “Thank you for setting her on the path. We have felt your victory. Even now, Yuna quests for her love.”

  


Anna spoke. “It feels amazing, Maramal. It also forced us to face painful memories that really hurt, but it made them make more sense, when we used them to help Yuna make sense of her own story.”

  


Maramal's smile broadened. “Indeed, it is through the telling of true stories that love conquers the barriers between worlds and people.”

  


Anna smiled. “I'll remember that. Can you tell us more about what you guys do here?”

  


“Where to begin? This temple spreads Mara's gifts by tending to the sick, the poor, and the lost. We also perform wedding ceremonies for all the loving couples in Skyrim.”

  


Elsa inhaled sharply and spoke in a small voice. “Weddings?”

  


“Yes! Are you familiar with how marriage works in Skyrim?”

  


Elsa shook her head. Anna just stared at her.

  


Maramal explained. “Typically, love in Skyrim is as earnest as the people who live here. Life is hard and short, so there is little room for long courtship. A person who is looking for a spouse simply wears an amulet of Mara about the neck, showing they are available. When another person shows interest and the two agree to be together, one of them comes to the temple, and we arrange a ceremony.”

  


Elsa spoke evenly, too evenly. “I see.” She turned to Dinya Balu. “Does Lady Mara require more of us?”

  


“I see you are eager to carry the light. As you venture, Mara fills my mind ever more with visions of love in peril. Embers lie nestled in stone, needing only fuel to bloom to a flame that will warm all around them. You've helped Yuna find the courage to break the barriers between the worlds. Now you shall break such a barrier yourselves. While holding the amulet of Mara, envision a bench in a garden that exists in two worlds. It is there that you will find two hearts weighed down by long separation. Do what you can to reunite these two lovers, Will and Lyra, to help them imagine and believe. This is the prayer heard by the goddess and relayed to her servants.”

  


The keyblade materialized in their hands, and Elsa and Anna placed their other hands on the amulet, sharing a glance as they did. The key turned in an invisible lock almost of its own accord, and then Maramal and Dinya Balu were alone.

  


~~v~~

  


On midsummer's day in the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, a young woman sat quietly on a wooden bench. In her hands, she held a golden device that could have been a clock, or perhaps a compass. Her head was bent, and she stared unseeing at the device, and idly moved its hands with her fingers. _Is this how Will's mother felt?_ She had one hour, one hour to tell the stories of her year, but she groped for the words and they would not come. She was not even sure if Will would ever hear them, and when this thought came to her a tear rolled down her cheek and fell onto the device.

  


The right thing to do, she thought, would be to stand up right now and get back to work. Building a meaningful life, a Republic of Heaven, she had found, was an accumulation of small things. Another paper on Economic History to write, another book on alethiometry to examine... There should be nothing crushing or sad about these mundane and valuable things, and yet for a moment Lyra felt an ache in her chest and thought she would rather die.

  


She shook her head, ashamed. _What would Pan think?_ But her daemon had curled up beneath the bench and did not speak to her.

  


She should stand up.

  


She should stand up.

  


She should stand up.

  


She did not.

  


It took her last reserve of will just to focus her eyes, and her gaze fell upon the alethiometer, and she gasped.

  


~~v~~

  


Will gasped.

  


There was a woman on the bench. She was blonde, and for a moment his heart leaped, but no, she was too pale, and too tall, and the real world flooded in again. He walked up to the bench and stood there, unsure what to do.

  


He was suddenly aware of his watch ticking the hour away. His fists clenched, and the girl looked up.

  


Well, maybe _looked_ wasn't the correct word.

  


“ Good morning,” she said, and smiled. “Am I in your seat?”

  


“Well... sort of,” he said.

  


“Come, sit with me.”

  


He moved stiffly toward her and moved to sit, but as soon as he touched the bench, he sprang off it as though it were scalding and paced.

  


“Ah, not just your bench, then. I see I've come to the right place.”

  


He gaped, and in the back of his mind the old intuition came flooding back. This woman... He took out the amber spyglass, he carried it all the time now, and trained it on her.

  


She was aglow with Dust.

  


“You know, I have sat on many benches just like this one. Some of them...” she ran her fingers over the wood, “... some of them have names carved onto them. I recently sat on a bench with two names carved beside each other. Will.” And even though she was blindfolded and looking past his shoulder, he felt her gaze boring into him, “... and Lyra.”

  


“Who are you?”

  


“My name is Elsa. I have a question for you, Will Parry.”

  


He stood silent.

  


“Why are you here with me and not with her?”

  


There was a pause, and then Will felt his knees go momentarily weak. The next thing he knew, he was being guided gently onto the bench by Elsa, who sat on the grass in front of him with her legs tucked under her.

  


“Have you seen her? Is she alright?”

  


“I know that she misses you.”

  


He fought the urge to grip her and demand that she take him this minute to Lyra. “Tell me... tell me everything.”

  


She smiled. “You first.”

  


~~v~~

  


He told her, of course. About the holes that had been carved in reality, how consciousness was leaking out of the universe and leaving monsters in its wake. How he and Lyra had stopped it by falling in love, and how their doing so had overthrown a celestial tyranny and freed the souls of the dead from eternal torment.

  


He shuddered, and then told her also about how they had had to seal the doorways between the worlds, and how he and Lyra had been forever separated, charged to build good lives... alone.

  


“The angels said that we could see each other and travel across worlds using the faculty of imagination,” he said. “I've never figured out what that meant. All I know is that it's not good enough to imagine her, Elsa. I've built a good life. My Mom is almost normal, Mary is making a real difference with her research and teaching, and I'm one of the youngest doctors in the city. My very own little Republic of Heaven. I tell myself that it will be a good story to tell the harpies when my time comes, but I don't think it'll be good enough.”

  


“Why not? Your story is as admirable a one as I have ever heard.”

  


“Because it's missing a character.”

  


They sat quietly for a few minutes.

  


“I think something's missing, Will.”

  


He glared at her. “Obviously.”

  


“That's not what I meant. Will, the angels said there were natural gateways between the worlds that were perfectly harmless. Why were you prevented from using one?”

  


“We weren't supposed to waste our lives looking for them.”

  


“Will, are angels always right?”

  


He thought about the Authority. The Metatron. “No.”

  


“It seems to me that the right thing to have done was to take you and her to one of those gateways so you could build the Republic of Heaven together.”

  


“We're supposed to build it wherever we are.”

  


“Does it feel like Heaven to you, Will?”

  


He could only shake his head.

  


“Will. Do you think she feels that she is building Heaven right now? Or does her story have a missing character too?”

  


Silence.

  


“Is there something about being together that would prevent you from building meaning in the world?”

  


“Why are you asking me these things?”

  


“Because I have the missing element, Will. Your imagination lacks one thing. Faith.”

  


He scowled. “Like the faith people had in the Authority?”

  


“Faith that some things that seem impossible are possible.”

  


“Surely you did not come all this way to quote Kierkegaard at me.”

  


She smiled. “He was one of my favorites to read growing up. I spent a long time resigned to never being with the one I loved. But I've learned something very important since then, Will. We are not meant to be separated from our loved ones. The universe is not so poorly designed.” She lifted her hand, and another young woman in blue emerged from behind a tree and walked to them. Will blinked when he saw Kirjava trailing behind her. “Will, this is Anna. My Anna.”

  


“Hi!”

  


“Hello, Anna. What is that in your hand?”

  


Anna glanced at Elsa. “I'm literally empty-handed here...”

  


“I can see you holding a giant key plain as day.”

  


Anna gasped. “How?”

  


“I once wielded the Subtle Knife. I can perceive these things.”

  


Anna nodded, and the Sword of Summer and Winter materialized in her grasp.

  


“This,” Elsa said, “is a keyblade. It opens the naturally existing gates between worlds.”

  


Anna handed the blade to him. “I think you know what to do. Open the gate, Will.”

  


The keyblade felt familiar, like his own knife but not. Like it was made of the force that had twice broken the Subtle Knife. It was made of... He looked at the two women who held hands in front of him and felt suddenly that he was intruding by touching this key. But they smiled, and he thought of Lyra.

  


The key turned in an invisible lock, and the world around him shimmered, and beside him Kirjava let out a yowl of delight. There was someone on the bench and he handed the keyblade to the two women and ran past them and then Lyra was in his arms and for the first time in thirteen years the Republic of Heaven felt worthy of the name.

  


~~v~~

  


Elsa and Anna cuddled on the bench in the Oxford University Botanic Garden and averted their eyes as thirteen years of longing poured themselves out in front of them. Anna leaned against her lover. “I like this bench. It's comfy.”

  


Elsa smiled. “That it is.”

  


Will and Lyra walked up to them, hand in hand, eyes wet. “Thank you. Thank you so much!”

  


Hugs were exchanged, and then Will spoke. “How long do we have?”

  


Anna blinked. “What do you mean?”

  


“We can't stay too long in each others' worlds, so unless we use your key all the time, we can't live together...”

  


Elsa smiled. “Faith, Will.”

  


Lyra pulled out her alethiometer. “There is a way – but to get at it, we have to go to your world.”

  


“Then what are we waiting for?”

  


~~v~~

  


“So our grand awesome quest involves going to a party? I could get used to this whole Agent of Mara thing!” Anna beamed as Lyra adjusted her black cocktail dress. Elsa earned a mild glare from Lyra when she adjusted Will's tie, and Anna teased her about it as they walked past Whitehall. “So, where is this party?”

  


Lyra fidgeted. “The alethiometer said to go here.”

  


They stood and waited. A smiling couple walked past them and into a nearby telephone booth.

  


They waited.

  


They waited.

  


And then Will realized that people did not go into telephone booths in pairs.

  


~~v~~

  


“This thing is bigger on the inside!” Anna fiddled with the telephone. “What is this thing?”

  


Lyra picked it up. “I'll handle this.” She consulted her alethiometer and dialed a number.

  


“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, how may I help you?”

  


“Party of Four, we're here for the Ministry Ball.”

  


“Your names, please.”

  


“We aren't on the guest list, as we are the Norwegian contingent. The new appointee sent an informal invitation, a gesture, really, and we're here to take him up on it as a token of international cooperation.”

  


“Harry Potter sent you an invitation?”

  


“Of course he did, he's the new boss, isn't he?”

  


“He is the new head auror, yes. This is highly irregular-”

  


“Do you mind? There's a line forming behind us and I'm not going to go back to Oslo and tell them we were rebuffed _by_ _phone_ after having come all this way.”

  


There was a sigh on the other end of the line. “Very well.”

  


There was a jolt, and the phone booth descended rapidly into the ground.

  


~~v~~

  


As they emerged into the atrium, Elsa waved her hand and the modest ice dresses she and Anna had been wearing transformed into full, caped ball gowns. Will shook his head as heads turned in their direction. “That was a bad move. We need to be subtle.”

  


Lyra shook her head. “No, it's perfect. We need you to be as distracting as possible. Keep everyone's eyes fixed on you while we go down a level and get at whatever the alethiometer was pointing at.”

  


Anna grinned. “I have an idea.” She took Elsa by the hand and moved into the crowd. “Remember when we got a bit too... excited while dancing and broke one of the phonograph records?”

  


“ You want me to make a new one out of ice?”

  


“Exactly.” She glanced at the magically empowered phonograph beside the dance floor. “I know just the one...”

  


~~v~~

  


“... and remind you that no matter who the head auror may be, safety and peace depend on all of us working together.”

  


The gathered witches and wizards broke into applause, and Harry smiled as Ginny beamed at him from across the room.

  


“Enjoy your dinner, everyone!” He blinked as a blonde in a little black dress strode across the stage and stepped up to the microphone.

  


“Thank you, Mr. Potter, and now we have a special number for you! As a token of appreciation from your allies in Norway, two of our finest dancers shall entertain you during dinner. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to Elsa and Anna Arendelle, who will be performing to a medley of Vivaldi's “Winter” and a little piece that Elsa wrote herself. Ladies and gentlemen a round of applause, let's let it go for Elsa and Anna!”

  


Will slipped the icy record onto the phonograph, and Elsa and Anna bowed to the gathered crowd as Harry took his place beside Ginny.

  


The music started, and Anna's entire demeanor changed. She stalked towards Elsa, who suddenly seemed very small and vulnerable. The cello moved into full pizzicato and Anna threw off her cape, which dissolved into snow as it flew through the air, and stepped forward.

  


Elsa stepped back.

  


Anna stepped forward.

  


The tails of Elsa's blindfold lifted in an icy wind as she put a foot forward, pumped her hips, and raised a hand in an unmistakable “come hither.”

  


Anna almost brusquely drew her partner into closed position.

  


_Very_ closed position.

  


They spun once, twice, and then the music shifted and it was suddenly a slow dance. Elsa lifted one side of her skirt (Anna thought of this move as the “Cinderella”) and twirled happily as a gentle snow began to fall. Elsa ran a hand through her hair, and Anna softened, flowing, flowing, and the music surged and now it was Elsa in the lead.

  


And now it was her very favorite part of the tune, and she let it go, let it go, and glowing pinpoints of flame appeared on her dress as she twirled with Elsa and laughed. The floor froze under them and Anna hoisted Elsa up into a classic figure skater's lift as skates of ice materialized on her feet, and then they were off, arcing past the VIP table and gliding in front of a crowd astonished at their wandless, wordless magic.

  


_Glide and pivot and glide..._

  


Vivaldi's music took the fore again and the skates disappeared as Anna took the lead. Now the spins were faster, and gasps rose from the crowd as Anna's hair caught fire. They shifted into a fast Viennese waltz. Elsa arched her back as Anna dipped her and then they spun and moved closer and then apart and then closer and then apart and as they shifted closer sweat beaded on Anna's forehead and when they pushed apart she threw her head back and wings of fire twenty feet wide erupted from her back and bathed the hall in golden light.

  


Applause filled the hall, and Will and Lyra slipped into the lift completely unnoticed.

  


Elsa laughed out loud as Anna drew her closer. Anna placed a hand on Elsa's scalp and drew her closer, closer, and there was a sudden rush of snow that blocked them from view, and then the two of them were just dancing again. At the VIP table, Hermione Weasley elbowed her slack-jawed husband. The music switched to pizzicato again and Elsa's cape melted to reveal that apart from a light dusting of snowflakes, her dress was backless to the waist. Ron Weasley glanced at his stunned wife and grinned. Anna ran her fingers over her partner's back as they twirled, and when she dipped Elsa low, low, low, the older woman's eyes fluttered closed and she cried out.

  


The floor froze, the skates appeared, and Anna was pirouetting with Elsa in a bridal carry, with her partner's arms around her neck. Their spinning slowed, the music slowed, the world slowed, and then they were on their feet and bowing to the cheering crowd, Elsa more shakily than Anna.

  


~~v~~

  


Beneath them in the Department of Mysteries, Will used the borrowed Sword of Summer and Winter to unlock the door. They entered, and found themselves in front of a fountain of something pearlescent and heady. There was a flash, and above the fountain hovered a keyblade.

  


Will reached out, and the blade flew with subtle motion into his hand. Lyra gasped behind him, and when he turned around, Harry Potter stood before them, wand drawn and at his side.

  


“ Your distraction and lock picking skills are impressive, but I know a thing or two about infiltrating this place, and I'm not head auror for nothing. Who are you?”

  


~~v~~

  


“... and the third brother lived a long and happy life, and passed the cloak to his son, and greeted death as a friend and equal.” Ron smiled as he finished the story. Hermione took his hand. “You memorized the whole thing.”

  


“When your edition of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_ came out, I read it seventeen times.”

  


Hermione squeezed his hand, then turned her attention to Elsa and Anna, who sat across them in front of a great pile of chocolate frogs. “Listen, there's a story we need to tell you.”

  


Anna quirked an eyebrow. “Is this a love story? We're collecting love stories, it's sort of a quest hobby thing we're doing.”

  


“Hermione nodded. “In a way, it is a love story. You see the third brother was Ignotus Peverell, an ancestor of our friend Harry. It was believed that by uniting the Deathly Hallows, one could become the Master of Death. It was this power that Lord Voldemort sought when he tried to conquer the wizarding world. But Harry eventually discovered that being the Master of Death didn't mean becoming immortal, but learning to accept death. He also learned that love was stronger than any form of magic, even the dark magic so effectively wielded by Voldemort. It is even more powerful than death.”

  


Hermione leaned forward. “I'm going to tell you something disturbing. Promise not to panic?”

  


“I promise we won't freak out.”

  


“Okay. I'm not just telling you this to distract you while Harry apprehends your friends downstairs.” She held up a hand as Elsa and Anna tensed. “He won't harm them, he'll just bring them here so they can have dinner with us. I'm telling you all this because a prophecy was recently made about you two. We knew you were coming. You have a great battle ahead of you, one that will have consequences for many worlds, including ours. You need to understand that death is inevitable, and that there are things worse than dying. Far, far worse.”

  


Harry sat down beside them, along with a very sheepish Will and Lyra.

  


“No harm done,” he said. That sword didn't exist in the love chamber until you two showed up, so technically you didn't steal anything.”

  


Elsa glanced at Anna. “Sword?”

  


“Could you show us?” asked Hermione.

  


“If you do, I think we can overlook the whole breaking and entering thing,” Ron said.

  


Will waved a hand, and with a shimmer his keyblade appeared out of thin air. It was narrow and dark in color, a shade of gray that shifted almost imperceptibly as the sword moved, so that it was hard to track exactly where it was at any given time.

  


Harry examined the keyblade for a moment, then looked at Lyra. “The prophecy I told you about said that I would have to ask a silver-tongued liar for a true story before I let her go, so why don't you tell us about yourselves?”

  


Lyra sighed. “It would take seven books to tell the stories of all the people at this table...”

  


“Or eight movies,” Ron said.

  


~~v~~

  


There was a shimmer in the air, and Elsa and Anna were once again in the garden of the Temple of Mara. They paused before the staircase, and after a few moments, Anna spoke.

  


“Is it okay if we wait a bit before making our report?”

  


Elsa nodded. “Yeah. We have a lot to take in.” She let Anna lead her underneath one of the trees and sat on the grass. Anna followed suit, facing her, and the two sisters joined hands in meditation. Within moments both were aureoled in flame and enveloped in a silent snowstorm.

  


“Elsa?”

  


“Yes?”

  


“What do I look like, when you look at me without using your eyes?”

  


Elsa's breath caught in her throat. “The most beautiful thing I've ever seen. You're like a flame in human form, glowing with light. Your eyes are blue flame and your hair is red and smoky and fills the room whenever you lay eyes on me.”

  


“Oh, Elsa...”

  


They sat in silence for awhile, and then Elsa spoke. “Why did you ask?”

  


“When I first looked at you with my eyes closed, after Alduin dissolved the world, I saw only an outline of you made of fire. But when Yuna told us her story, I saw you the way you see me, a storm in human form. There are snowflakes in your eyes and a storm that gets stronger when you look at me. I see all this, but with the fire first, because the fire is my love, and I loved you first before I truly saw you and all that you had done for me. When you see me, do I have an aura of ice?”

  


“N-no.” The snowstorm and flames around them abruptly went out. “I'm... I'm sorry.”

  


“Elsa, don't be. It doesn't mean you love me less. I can never believe that.”

  


Elsa took a shuddering breath. “Then what does it mean?”

  


“I saw you with that fire outline when I accepted my own powers, and I saw you as a storm when I thought about how you would die for me. That was why I needed Yuna's story, I think. To remind me of that and help me see you more clearly.”

  


“So why can't I see an corona of snow around you?”

  


“You said it yourself. You spent too long afraid of and hating your powers... and yourself. It's also why the Word of Power for frost didn't come naturally to you. But it's time to let that go, Elsa.”

  


Anna gazed at her lover, and somehow she knew what to do. “It's so much easier to love someone when we believe that we can love them the way they deserve. So I want you to see yourself the way I see you.”

  


She held Elsa's hands and searched within herself, not for the Word, but for that part of herself that made the word mean something. She thought of winter, beautiful and stormy and so very _Elsa_ , and of snowmen, and of love, and then her breath was winter.

  


_Fo!_

  


The word ghosted from her lips, flashed freezing through the air, and washed over Elsa.

  


Elsa gasped as a thousand frozen fractals swirled into being in the darkness around her. They swirled and stormed around her and wreathed the flaming Anna in an impossibly powerful storm.

  


Tears streamed down her cheeks, and then Anna held her and even with her eyes closed the storm and the flame were too bright to bear, and a Word welled up within her unbidden and sighed itself out from between her lips.

  


_Fo!_

  


Anna smiled with tears in her eyes as Elsa's stormy sigh washed harmlessly over her, and then Elsa was whispering in her ear. There were promises and declarations and a question, one question that froze the shadows and ignited the stars, and her answer was yes, yes, always and forever yes.

  


~~v~~

  


The lovers walked into the temple the next morning, hand in hand and all but glowing, and Dinya Balu sighed. “The goddess smiles on your efforts, children. The dawn shines bright upon you. You have seen how hope can drive us to attempt the impossible, and how faith can make it so. There is one final aspect we wish for you to explore. For a strong love can withstand storms and even survive death.” She pulled out a scroll and hesitated. “Elsa? Anna?”

  


The sisters glanced at each other, and Elsa spoke. “Is there something wrong?”

  


“ Normally I do not hesitate in the giving of such quests, but this last exploration... this scroll will guide you to the woman you need to find. You will know her when you see her. I warn you, this scroll is filled with pain of the most awful sort. I am sorry that it is my hand that passes it to you.”

  


Anna took the scroll before Elsa could. “What's in it?”

  


“I wrote it in a trance. When I read the first lines I knew it would be wrong to continue reading – its words are not meant for me. The scroll will unseal itself when you arrive at your destination. It will be readable to both of you, even without the use of your eyes.”

  


Dinya stepped forward as the couple made to leave. “Would you like to rest for a few days? I could give you access to our library, or perhaps you could spend time in the gardens or around Riften...” She stopped and looked at her shoes.

  


Anna turned to her. “Dinya, are you alright?”

  


She put her arms around herself. “Your quest... it makes me afraid. I may have as much to learn here as you do, but the cost... I have never seen Mara demand so much from anyone.”

  


Elsa spoke. “We have to do this. Our world depends on it.”

  


Dinya nodded sadly. “Then your journey begins downstairs, through the door in the garden. Alessandra will help you.”

  


Elsa and Anna made their way out of the temple. Anna turned to Elsa. “Scared?”

  


“A little... but you're with me, so I don't have to be.”

  


They opened the garden door and found themselves in a crypt. There were skeletons in the nooks in the walls, and in the middle of the chamber, a young woman worked to embalm a body. She looked up. “Good morning.”

  


“Good morning,” said Anna, “Are you Alessandra?”

  


“Yes. You must be Elsa and Anna. Dinya Balu told me to expect you. Welcome to the Hall of the Dead.”

  


Elsa gripped Anna's hand, and Anna found herself at a loss for words.

  


Alessandra sighed. “It's a surprise to many that we perform our weddings right above the mortuary, but I'm told that understanding this is a part of your quest. Love and death are more closely tied together than most think. There is a shrine in the corner. The next part of your journey begins there.”

  


Anna led Elsa to the shrine, a strange spiked globe, and let the Sword of Summer and Winter form in her hand. There was a flash of light, and Alessandra turned back to her work.

  


~~v~~

  


He was halfway through his tea when the owner of the bakery brought out her guitar. The flow of customers had slowed, and no one had ordered anything this late in the day. The woman took a seat at the corner where a photograph of another woman hung on the wall, and started playing. After a few hesitant chords, she began to sing quietly, and her voice whispered through the bakery and its few nighttime customers.

  


_If I never knew you_

_If I never felt this love_

_I would have no inkling of_

_How precious life can be..._

  


It was one of the small rituals no one notices, the man thought as the song continued. In a city this big, no one really takes much notice when a young woman plays a certain song on some nights of the year, even when it means that for the rest of the evening her customers have to pretend that they don't see her crying.

  


~~v~~

  


Elsa and Anna materialized on a bridge, the biggest they had ever seen. The wind was not strong, but it was bitterly cold. Elsa called up a small flurry, and Anna instantly felt warmer. She took one end of the scroll, and Elsa took the other. “Whatever is in this scroll, remember, I'm with you.”

  


Elsa nodded. “I know.”

  


They closed their eyes, opened the scroll, and read.

  


~~v~~

  


**3-25-14 15:35**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Hey Feistypants, I'm in Starbucks, you want anything?

  


**3-25-14 15:41**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Hellooooo?

  


**3-25-14 15:50**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Um...I didn't get you anything.

  


Are you mad at me?

  


**3-25-14 15:59**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


It has just occurred to me that you are probably in the shower or something.

  


I went back and got your Mocha.

  


Love you baby.

  


**3-26-14 1:06**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Oh my God.

  


No.

  


Not you.

  


Anyone but you.

  


**3-27-14 9:14**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Did it hurt?

  


The doctor said it was quick but...I hope he was telling the truth and

not just trying to make me feel better.

  


Of course it hurt, you were fucking shot...

  


**3-28-14 10:35**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I stayed over at Kristoff's last night.

  


I just couldn't stand to sleep in our bed alone last night, it still

smells like you.

  


Neither of us wanted to be alone. He brought a load of your favourite

chocolates out that you had left there in case of emergencies. We didn't

speak much, but I cried a lot.

  


**3-28-14 19:36**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Your parents, Kristoff and I are almost finished planning your...funeral.

  


I'm expected to make a kind of speech at it, but I don't know what to

say. No words could ever do you justice.

  


**3-31-14 16:48**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


That was...hard.

  


The ceremony was nice...the burial was heartbreaking.

  


I made my speech. They all said it was lovely. Some of them were crying.

  


There were a lot of flowers. I got you some peach-coloured roses. I

thought you'd like them. The florist told me one of their meanings is

gratitude. And I am grateful to you for everything you've shown me.

  


We went for a meal afterwards. They played our song. I had managed not

to cry until then.

  


**4-5-14 9:08**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I had never given a lot of thought to life without you. I figured it

would be a long way down the line, when we were old and grey but you

were still beautiful.

  


But I've been staring at the ceiling in our room, hugging your pillow,

all night, thinking about what I'm going to do now.

  


I still haven't come up with an answer.

  


**4-7-14 18: 23**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I went back to work today. Everyone was really sympathetic, but they all

avoided me.

  


Mr. Weselton, you know, my boss? Weird little guy with the bad toupee?

He was at your funeral. Told me if I needed any more time just to say it.

  


I didn't say anything, but I spent most of today hiding in the janitor's

closet. The cleaner brought me coffee.

  


**4-19-14 12:35pm**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I miss you so much.

  


Your favourite movie was on TV, that Disney one, Tangled. I called

Kristoff and we watched it together.

  


Kristoff, your brother. He's been great. Sometimes it hurts seeing your

smile in him, but neither of us have been doing a lot of that as of late

anyway.

  


**4-22-14 00:00**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


It's been 4 weeks, a whole month.

  


I don't know how I made it here. Every day after your funeral is just a

big, bleak, blur of "I'm sorry"'s and "she was so young"'s. As if I

didn't fucking know that. Sorry, I know you didn't like it when I swore.

  


But I'm sick of it.

  


Why did you have to die?

  


Damn it Anna. You fucking left me here to trudge through this shitstorm

alone.

  


Fuck you.

  


**5-13-14 13:54**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I'm sorry

  


I was just...really mad.

  


No, that's not an excuse. You didn't choose to leave me here. I hope. It

wasn't your fault. It was his.

  


That bastard behind the gun, Hans South. The police came yesterday with

new evidence. Apparently you knew him, in high school? They told me

everything pointed to him, and now they're doing what they can to find him.

  


I hope they set the dogs on him.

  


**5-27-14 20:39**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Today was the most normal I felt in a while.

  


By normal I mean less of a robot just doing work, and more like a human

hating said work.

  


I hope this doesn't mean I'm getting over your death. I don't ever want

to lose you.

  


**6-2-14 9:32**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Happy birthday.

  


I miss you.

  


I'm going over to your parents' house with Kristoff. We're going to have

cake, I made your favourite, chocolate fudge. I'm making a birthday wish

on your behalf. I want you to come back. It won't happen, but I can

still hope.

  


**7-14-14 14:28**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I've been having these dark thoughts.

  


Thinking if I died, I could see you again.

  


And it would be easy, so easy. I live alone now after all.

  


I've been thinking about pills.

  


Maybe I should see a therapist.

  


**7-23-14 16:45**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I just finished my session. She was nice.

  


We just talked about you. I told her all the things I loved about you

and all the things I've missed.

  


I told her I missed your freckles and your dopey little lopsided smile

and your braids and your warmth and your rambling and just everything

that made you Anna Bjorgman-Arendelle.

  


I told her I still text you. She encouraged it, said it was a good

coping method, so I'm going to text you silly things that don't really

matter.

  


**8-3-14 13:43**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Kristoff brought me a puppy!

  


He said he found him in a cardboard box labelled 'give me a home'.

  


We're taking him to the vet's to get him checked.

  


His name is Sven and he's the sweetest little thing ever. I think you'd

have loved him.

  


**8-9-14 11:24**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I was able to keep Sven. I'm currently house-training him, but he

doesn't quite grasp the concept yet.

  


I'm glad there's no carpet to ruin.

  


**8-17-14 18:29**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I'm giving up my job in the office. The hours are too much for the pay,

especially now with Sven.

  


There's a little cafe that just opened last month within walking

distance of the house, I'm going to apply for work there.

  


You always encouraged me to follow my dream of opening a bakery. This

could be the start of it.

  


I'm just sorry you're not here to reach it with me.

  


**9-1-14 12:42**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I got the job!

  


I start tomorrow.

  


It's a nice little place, you'd have loved it. They make all these

delightful Danish pastries and they're going to teach me how to make

them. I'm really excited.

  


**9-9-14 18:12**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


That was a long week. But it was a good one.

  


I went back to the therapist to tell her how I've been doing.

  


She said I seemed a lot happier.

  


And that scares me. That I might be losing my grasp on you. She said not

to worry, but I can't help it.

  


**9-15-14 16:01**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I've been cleaning the house today. I figured I'd keep up our bi-annual

tradition.

  


I found our college yearbooks in a box in the closet. I hadn't realized

you kept them. I'm glad you did.

  


I went through one of them, the one of the year we got together. There

was me in my too-big hoody and my thick glasses, looking distinctly

uncomfortable, and you, lacking any sense of personal space leaning over

my shoulder from behind to look at my business textbook.

  


I remember that day. It was the first time I kissed you. We'd kissed

before, but you were always the one to initiate it. It happened right

after that photo was taken. Do you remember? You'd started to straighten

up again and I turned to look at you and you just looked so beautiful

that day and something rushed through me. All of a sudden, before I even

realized it I had cupped your face and crashed our lips together. You

were so stunned you didn't even kiss me back.

  


**10-7-14 19:08**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


So they found Hans today.

  


Dead on the floor of a motel room.

  


Overdose they said.

  


I'd have preferred to see him rot in a cell.

  


**10-18-14 14:25**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Do you remember when you dragged me out for a picnic in the freezing

October air?

  


I'm sure you do.

  


And then before we were halfway to the park, it started pouring rain and

we had to run back home. We were soaked before we were even near home,

so you stopped and said you'd always wanted to kiss in the rain like

those silly movies. I hadn't expected you to drop to one knee after we

kissed, on the sopping wet pavement and pull out a ring.

  


I had, however, expected you to drop aforementioned ring attempting to

put it on me while you were trembling with the cold. I also expected it

would take some time of you clumsily groping around to eventually find

the thing.

  


Happy Anniversary

  


**11-5-14 18:37**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I haven't said anything in a while. I figured it's my birthday, I might

as well.

  


Kristoff came over with a chocolate cake in tow.

  


Sven ate most of it.

  


We're currently at the vet's.

  


**11-9-14 15:12**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I picked up Rusty the guitar for the first time since your...death. I

wasn't really inspired to write anything, so I played our song over and

over until I started crying.

  


On a side note: Sven makes a great teddy bear.

  


**12-25-14 8:09**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


God. I miss you. I miss you and your Christmas rambling so much. I'm

going to your parents' house for dinner, so I won't be alone.

  


I love you.

  


**1-12-15 17:45**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


I got a promotion! The cafe is doing well enough that they opened

another one closer to the city centre, and they've asked if I'd like to

be assistant manager.

  


That means I'm going to have to move though. Out of what we thought

would only be the first of the houses we'd buy together.

  


I'm a little relived, in some ways. The house was too big, too empty

without you. But I don't want to leave our memories.

  


I don't want to forget you.

  


**3-24-15 8:02**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Jesus Christ.

  


A year. It's almost been a year. Tomorrow, we're all meeting for lunch.

Tomorrow we'll gather around your body and reminisce about you.

  


Tomorrow your phone will be disconnected and I'll never be able to send

you another message.

  


I don't know how I'm going to deal with that.

  


**3-24-15 23:49**

  


**From: Elsa**

  


Dear Anna,

  


I don't know how I made it through this year without you.

  


Ever since we met, when you  _literally_ ran into me while we were both on

our way to class, I've loved you, and couldn't stand a single day

without you. Now I've gone through 365 of them.

  


Our first date, when you pecked me on the lips without thinking, and got

flustered, apologising and asking if that was okay, I was amazed that I

was able to have met someone so different from me that I wanted to spend

every minute with.

  


The first time we made love...it was...messy and unpolished, but it was

just so  _you_ that I didn't care.

  


Anna Bjorgman-Arendelle, you are and always will be the love of my life,

and I can only hold on to the hope that there is some kind of life after

death and that I'll get to see you again. Until then though, I'm going

to live life just the way I know you'd like me to. No more holding

myself back from anything because I'm stuck in the past, in you. It's

time I let go of all the sadness attached to the memories of you, and

only think about the good things.

  


I'll let it go.

  


Love, forever and always,

  


Elsa.

  


~~v~~

  


The scroll fell from Anna's nerveless fingers and was swept by a cold wind into the bay. She was aware of her heart pounding as she leaned on the guard rail-

  


It wasn't _her_ heart pounding.

  


She whirled around and saw Elsa frozen, eyes wide and unseeing.

  


“No... no...”

  


Anna rushed to her as she doubled over and collapsed shaking to the now-icy sidewalk. She gripped her shoulders. “Elsa, Elsa look at me!”

  


Elsa cried out and Anna threw her arms around her. They leaned against the guard rail and Anna fought a wave of panic as Elsa's breath came faster and shallower. Anna shuddered, and realized that she felt _cold_ , cold like when the Eternal Winter had frozen Arendelle. She pressed Elsa's head into her chest. “Elsa, listen.”

  


She held her, kissed her hair. “Listen to me, Elsa. It's still beating. I'm here.”

  


She let Elsa hold her and cry into her chest, and tried not to think about...

  


_Thinking if I died, I could see you again._

  


_I go when you do, Anna. It is as simple as that._

  


_Don't ask me to live in a world where you don't exist..._

  


Anna looked up, and was instantly fighting panic as well.

  


A woman stood not far from them, bent over the guard rail and staring at the water. On the bridge tower beside her was a blue sign with large white letters.

  


CRISIS COUNSELING

THERE IS HOPE

MAKE THE CALL

  


THE CONSEQUENCES OF

JUMPING FROM THIS

BRIDGE ARE FATAL

AND TRAGIC

  


The woman turned her head skywards, and even though she was in the unfamiliar garb of another century Anna instantly recognized the curve of her body, the flow of her platinum hair.

  


_Elsa_.

  


Anna moaned when the woman climbed the barrier and made ready to leap into the icy water below. There was no way they could get to her in time. She looked down and made to cover Elsa's eyes, but it was too late – her lover gazed with undiluted terror at her doppelganger, and Anna felt her heart flutter dangerously again.

  


Elsa gazed with sightless eyes at her other self, blacker than the darkness behind her eyelids and wreathed in tendrils of black smoke. One of these tendrils lanced out and stabbed into her, and for just a moment there was a hideous dullness at the edge of her heart.

  


Anna pressed her lips into her forehead. “I won't leave you.”

  


The dullness faded, and the wind carried a conversation to them. They looked up and there was a man speaking to the other Elsa.

  


~~v~~

  


“ When I first looked on her and perceived her unhappiness, it seemed to me that I saw a white flower standing straight and proud, shapely as a lily, and yet knew that it was hard, as if wrought by elf-wrights out of steel. Or was it, maybe, a frost that had turned its sap to ice, and so it stood, bitter-sweet, still fair to see, but stricken, soon to fall and die?”

  


Elsa gasped but continued to cling to the barrier. The man before her stepped forward, and without thinking she leaned away from him, further over the edge. He stopped and held up his hands. “You needn't be afraid. I won't hurt you.”

  


She glanced down at the water, then back at him, and quirked an eyebrow despite herself.

  


White robes. White scarf. White sash. White hooded cloak.

  


“I think I've seen this movie before. What are you, an angel?”

  


“I don't know if I deserve the title, but I am a messenger, yes.”

  


“Listen, I know what this looks like, but you need to-”

  


“Tell me about Anna.”

  


She almost lost her grip on the barrier.

  


The man stepped forward. “Look, it doesn't take a genius to guess. You named your bakery after her. I've seen the way you look at the photo that hangs on the wall there. How long has it been?”

  


She drew in a shaky breath. “A year. Almost two. Today would have been – is – our anniversary.”

  


“She must have been very beautiful.”

  


“You have no idea.”

  


“Why don't you come down from there and tell me?”

  


She shook her head. “Look, mister angel or whoever you are, I appreciate the thought, but I've made my decision and it is in your best interest to walk away and forget you ever saw me. This isn't some impulsive thing.”

  


“It didn't seem that way to me when you were singing to her earlier.”

  


“Oh is that how it's gonna be, you Gandalf wannabe? You have no right to talk about her. Or me. And just because I have made a rational choice doesn't mean I'm dead inside.” She let go with one hand and let herself swing even further over the edge. “I feel thin and stretched, like...” She chuckled humorlessly. “... butter scraped over too much bread.”

  


“Tell me how this is rational.”

  


She glared at him. “Look, I dealt with the wanting to die part months ago, alright? Saw a therapist and everything. I fulfilled our dream of opening a bakery. I even got a dog – he's with her brother now. I have let go of all the sadness because Anna was, no, dammit, _is_ a source of joy in my life and not sorrow.”

  


“ So your life is full of joy. Good. Go back to it.”

  


“No.”

  


“Why not?”

  


“There's no point explaining it to anyone else.”

  


“That sounds rational.”

  


She rounded on him, incensed. Her other hand gripped the railing again. “Because good memories aren't enough.”

  


“You're stronger than that. You're much stronger than you think you are.”

  


“Ooh, Elsa is suffering, let's quote comic books at her! Listen, I don't want to be angry when I go, so could you please take your self-righteous pity and your very pretty LARP costume and just leave?”

  


“But you do recognize the quote.”

  


“God dammit.” She turned away and let go with one hand.

  


“How would she feel if it were you instead of her?”

  


“ _What?_ ”

  


“Just what I said. If it had been you who died instead of her, how would she feel right now?”

  


Elsa turned pale. “I can't bear the thought of her going through this.”

  


“Then that's why it had to be you. Your suffering is not meaningless, Elsa. It's not wrong to feel this way. You carry this burden in her stead.”

  


She gazed into the black water. “Well, I won't have to carry it much longer.”

  


“So you're really going to do it?”

  


“Yes.”

  


“Well, Elsa, if you're really this set on committing suicide, then I say go ahead and do it.”

  


“If this is some kind of bullshit reverse psychology-”

  


“But don't do it by jumping. Don't do it by destroying your body. Do it by cutting off your former life and going in a completely new direction. Change everything. Change your name. Let it go.”

  


“No.”

  


“Why?”

  


“Because if I move on, I would have to change. I can't be the same person without her that I was with her - and I don't want to ever become anyone but the same person she fell in love with. And I refuse to be content with a good life that doesn't have her in it.”

  


“Then do both.”

  


“You're deluded.”

  


“I mean it. Split your soul, Elsa. Send one half to heaven to dance with her forever. Let the other part of you stay here. This is a beautiful world, Elsa – the fact that it once created Anna makes living in it worthwhile.”

  


She turned around. For a moment she leaned away from the edge, and then shook her head.

  


“It's also the same world that took her from me.”

  


“Nothing in this world lasts forever, Elsa. So harvest it. Spend your life seeing, experiencing all the good things in the world, all the things you would have wanted to share with her. And when your time comes, as it must, gather it all in your heart, take it up to Anna and that other half of you, and lay it all at their feet. Make your life an offering to her. Give her all the good she never had a chance to discover with you.”

  


Her breath caught in her throat.

  


“Take my hand, Elsa.”

  


And she did.

  


~~v~~

  


As she got into the cab he had flagged down for her, she turned to him. “We won't meet again, will we?”

  


“No. I have delivered the message I was sent to deliver.”

  


“From who?”

  


He smiled. “Who do you think? Have a beautiful life, Elsa. She loves you.”

  


“I know.” She nodded, and was gone.

  


~~v~~

  


Elsa and Anna stared as he walked up to them. “Good evening.”

  


Anna draped a protective arm around Elsa. “Who are you?”

  


Elsa stared. “Anna...”

  


In her eyes he was a flame, but also a storm, and glowed a color that was somehow both blue and red at once.

  


He drew back his hood, exposing his hair. Platinum blonde. “Would you like to know what happens to her?”

  


“What?”

  


“We travel in the same way. Through time as well as space. She lasts just thirteen more years before she dies – by her own hand.”

  


Anna hung her head. “So much for your message.”

  


“Well, you see, she was tending her bakery one day and watching a little red-haired girl playing on the sidewalk. The girl forgot herself and ran out onto the road, right in front of a car, and without thinking she ran and pushed the girl out of the way and was struck down in her place. She saved the girl's life.”

  


Anna was suddenly aware of Elsa stroking her hair.

  


“The doctors found it very strange. You see, she suffered a concussion and two broken ribs – trivial injuries in this day and age, but she died and they couldn't explain it. She just let go. Like she was ready.”

  


Anna clung to Elsa.

  


“But before then, she had an amazing life. She got to see Paris. She swam with dolphins and soared with eagles and sampled a thousand different kinds of chocolate. And she died a hero.”

  


Elsa spoke. “And she is with her Anna now?”

  


“What do you think?”

  


“Then all is right with this world.”

  


Anna gripped her tighter. “Is this what Hermione meant, about becoming a master of death?”

  


“Yes. She faced death for thirteen years and was not afraid. Thirteen years. Do you know why that number is significant?”

  


Elsa nodded. “It's the number of years Anna and I lived without each other.”

  


“Exactly. As my uncle once said, 'orin brit ro.'” A beautiful balance.”

  


He reached into his shoulder bag and slipped a yellow ring onto his finger, then held out a hand. “Let me show you.”

  


Making sure to hold tight to Elsa, Anna took his hand. There was a flash of light, and when Anna opened her eyes they were in a dense forest. A green light shone through the trees, and there were pools of water here and there about the landscape, which seemed to go on forever. Their companion pointed. “Look into the pools.”

  


They did, and gasped. “It's us,” Elsa cried.

  


Anna's gaze flitted between the portals, and in each one was reflected a different Elsa and a different Anna. Elsa gazed awestruck at a dozen fiery Annas and a dozen wintery Elsas, and the fire and ice were different for each, but the pale light that shone between them looked always the same.

  


“I have traveled to many, many worlds, and in every world where you exist there are always some things that are different. And some things are always the same. There is a world where Elsa is tyrant of the Southern Isles, conqueror of Arendelle – and she meets a girl named Anna who thaws her heart. There is a world where Elsa is a shut-in, desperately hiding her incestuous love for her sister, who is always there for her when her Elsa is suffering. There is a world where Elsa is blind and falls in love with Anna in a coffee shop and only later realizes that she is the princess from her mysterious dreams. There is a world where you meet in a marching band, another where you use your amazing mental connection to drive a gigantic machine in defense of humanity. In many worlds, you are sisters, and in many, you are not. And in all of them, all the ones that matter, a woman named Elsa and a woman named Anna love each other more than words can say. Other things, other elements, are present as well. A friend – or lover – named Kristoff. A villain named Hans. Constants and variables.”

  


He traded his yellow ring for a green one, and the three of them were standing in front of a lighthouse. He indicated the door. “Open it.”

  


Anna pushed the door open to find him on the other side. Elsa held her hand as they gazed upon a sea of lighthouses, hundreds of them.

  


She turned to their companion. “How can you do this?”

  


“I was conceived in the timeless space between the worlds, and as I grew older, I learned how to see and travel across space and time. I had a lot of help from an extraordinary young woman with similar powers. She had two names, Elizabeth, and Anna.” He quirked an eyebrow. “I'm still trying to figure out if that was a coincidence.” He turned around. “Follow me!”

  


As he walked, pieces of the pier attached to the lighthouse rose from the ocean to form a path in front of them. Elsa gasped. “Look!”

  


Across the water, a dozen Elsas and a dozen Annas followed a dozen white-clad strangers across a dozen piers.

  


They walked on for awhile, until they reached another lighthouse. “The Temple of Mara is through here.”

  


Elsa walked up to him. “We're grateful, but why are you doing this for us?”

  


He smiled. “Let's just say that I have a vested interest in your success and survival. And I am something of...” He raised his hands, and in one was ice and in the other was flame. “... a man for all seasons.”

  


Anna's voice was small and shaky. “Who are you?”

  


“I think you know,” he said, running a hand through his platinum hair. “Look into my eyes.”

  


They did. Blue. Blue like Elsa's. Blue like Anna's.

  


Elsa sobbed. “Oh my God!” And suddenly he was in their arms. They pressed kisses into his cheeks and wept with joy, and when Elsa could speak again, she asked in a small voice, “Whose...?”

  


“I am the fruit of your womb, though I am told that you both suffered equally in my birth.” He paused, eyes moist. “Thanks, by the way.”

  


Anna gazed at him. “What's your name?”

  


He smiled. “You told me that you had immense fun choosing a name for me, so I'll keep that mysterious.” His tone became serious again. “Do I pass? I... I hope I'm living up to...”

  


They held him tighter. “Yes! Yes you have.” Anna kissed him again. “We'll just have to call you 'Angel' for now.”

  


They held each other for awhile, and then Angel spoke. “The next part of your journey is through the door. There's a great battle coming, as you've been told. I'll rally your allies and meet you when the time comes.

  


Embraces and 'I love yous' were exchanged, and Elsa and Anna went through the door.

  


~~v~~

  


Once again, the couple stood before Dinya Balu. She rushed to them and took their hands. “Are you alright?”

  


Elsa nodded. “Yes. It hurt, Dinya, it hurt _so_ much, but what we've learned... it's incredible.”

  


Anna piped up. “I thought this was something we had to do ourselves, but we had a lot of help. All throughout the quest, in fact... but that was part of it, wasn't it? Love never works alone.”

  


Dinya bowed to them. “Your efforts have helped illuminate the worlds. I trust by now you've achieved a higher comprehension of love. Carry the blessings of Mara with you, so the worlds beyond may shine with her glories.” The shrines in the temple glowed, and Elsa and Anna glowed brightly for a few moments. “You're ready.”

  


Elsa nodded. “Yes, we are. But before we go...” She turned to Maramal. “We have a wedding to plan.”

  


~~v~~

  


Maramal gazed sadly at them. “Elsa, Anna, please don't hate me... your understanding of love surpasses anything I have ever seen, and we ourselves are learning from you. The loyalty and devotion you share is an inspiration that will illuminate this temple long after you are gone. But the rituals of the wedding ceremony are very clearly defined. It is not for sisters. I'm so sorry.”

  


Anna gaped. “What... how?”

  


Dinya stared at her shoes. “You talk in your sleep.”

  


Elsa found her voice. “I... I understand. I would not think to offend the Lady Mara after all she has done for us.” She bowed. “We part as friends. Thank you. For everything.”

  


She took the stunned Anna's hand and let the younger woman lead her out into the garden. Behind them, Maramal held his wife.

  


~~v~~

  


They walked into the garden and slowed to a halt, hand in hand. They spent a long minute staring at each other, and Anna spoke. “Okay... I thought I would be on my knees screaming at this point. Are we... are we okay?”

  


Elsa nodded, slowly. “Yeah... I don't think... we don't need it, not anymore, do we? We don't need a ceremony or anything. We'll always know. I don't care what they're going to say.”

  


Anna caressed her cheek, and they kissed under the tree where Elsa had proposed.

  


Behind them, the statue of Mara glowed with golden light, and they felt a warmth in the rings they wore.

  


And when Elsa opened her eyes, she could see.

  


~~v~~

  


The northern lights glowed in a thousand shades of green and blue as Kaal led a flight of dragons toward Riften. The city guards lifted their bows, then lowered them and watched. Inside the temple, Maramal and Dinya Balu felt several thuds as the dovah alighted on the roof. Kaal executed a perfect spot landing inside the courtyard, tail thumping against the walls.

  


Before him, Elsa and Anna kissed each other passionately, surrounded by a storm of ice and fire.

  


“ Hrrrrmmm.”

  


The couple separated abruptly, the storm faded, and the two of them gazed sheepishly up at him. “Lok Thu'um, Kaal,” Elsa said.

  


There was a flash in the air beside them, and Angel stepped into the garden. “Drem yol lok, dovah fahdon” Behind him, Will, Lyra, Yuna, and a blonde man with an enormous blue sword on his back stepped into the garden.

  


Anna lit up when she saw him. “Yuna! You found him!”

  


Yuna grinned mischievously. “Yes!” She looked back and forth between Angel, Anna, and Elsa. “And it looks like you two got busy!”

  


Anna turned red as the others giggled. Elsa didn't notice, gazing enraptured for the first time at her son.

  


PaarThurNax rumbled and turned to Kaal. “Young people.”

  


Anna brandished the Sword of Summer and Winter. “Ready, everyone?”

  


Will felt the air with the Subtle Key and shook his head. “Wait!”

  


When they turned to him, he said, “There's something wrong on the other end. I can feel it. We should open our entrance further back, give ourselves space.”

  


Angel nodded. “Then the enemy is already on the move. Let us go.”

  


There was a final flash of light in the courtyard, and the statue of Mara was alone in the garden once more.

  


~~v~~

  


The party found themselves on a gray and featureless plain. Ahead of them, tall and white in the distance, glowed the great door.

  


The sky was dark and without stars, and as they watched, the darkness advanced like a fog, and a figure emerged from the shadows and marched toward them, white-haired, masked, and with dagger drawn.

  


Anna snarled. “Hans.”

  


They faced each other and did not speak. There was nothing to say.

  


Hans pointed at them with his dagger, the fog of darkness resolved into a thousand dark shapes, and the friends huddled together as a chill descended. The dark shapes advanced and surrounded them, and Anna could feel Elsa's heart pounding. She was dimly aware of Angel chanting and gesturing behind her. There was burst of light, the chill lifted, and they found themselves within a great glowing circle.

  


“The Guardian Circle will not last long,” Angel said. I have faced these things before. They have many names across the worlds; nazgul, dementors, heartless. Will, Lyra, you know them as specters.”

  


Lyra paled, and the Subtle Key materialized in Will's hand. Beside them, Tidus brought Brotherhood to the ready, and its blue blade gleamed and bubbled. Yuna cradled a glowing orb in her hands. There was a flash of silver light, and then she was hovering a few feet off the ground, clad in silver, an enormous flower floating in the air behind her.

  


“These creatures drain happiness, courage, and thought from all in their vicinity. Physical weapons cannot harm them, but enchanted weapons and magic will work. Keyblades are ideal. They are creatures of the cold and dark, and so fire is most effective. Elsa, Anna, Yuna, you're artillery. I want you standing beside each other facing outward. Lyra, stay in the center and use the alethiometer to gain any insights you can on their strategy and weaknesses. PaarThurNax, Kaal, these things are earthbound – they cannot harm you if you fly above them as you attack. Stay close and do not let yourselves be grounded! Tidus, You're our fastest mover, so you're on close protection detail. Do not let any of those things through! Will, The Subtle Key is the most precise weapon we have. When Hans makes his move, take him down! I will stay close to you and cast healing and warding spells. Any questions?” The light wavered and no one replied. “And remember, all of you – love casts out fear. For Arendelle!”

  


The light went out, the dovah took to the air, and battle was joined.

  


There was a flurry of flower petals as Yuna waved her arms, and a great whirl of energy crashed into the heartless, tearing through them and blasting them into wisps of shadow. Anna and Elsa shouted as one – _Yol!_ – and the heartless were thrown back in flames. Hans weaved and darted like a dancer, here and now there, dodging fire and ice and coming ever closer. Brotherhood roared and splashed and many heartless were sent tumbling away on waves of enchanted water, and then all went white as Elsa summoned the fiercest blizzard she could. Above them, the dovah roared and breathed all-consuming flame into the enemy ranks, so that the party was surrounded on all sides by a wall of fire. There was a blur in the air, and Elsa cried out and fell bleeding to the ground as Hans' blade found its mark. Anna screamed and rushed to her. There was a flash of gold and black, and Anna gasped as Hans plunged his blade right through her icy breastplate. He made to drive the blade toward her heart, but then Will was standing over them, grimly silent as he thrust the Subtle Key in a dozen directions one after the other, cutting off the angles, leaving Hans less and less room to maneuver until in desperation he attempted to block the keyblade with his dragon priest dagger.

  


It was a mistake. The dagger fell in two smoking pieces to the ground and Hans screamed as his mask was cloven in twain. A blast of light radiated from Angel, and Elsa and Anna felt their wounds closing. Yuna whirled again, and the heartless drew back. Hans launched himself at Anna and punched her so viciously that she was driven to the ground. A trio of heartless surged between them and Will, and he was occupied as they lunged and clawed at him. A wave of heartless came at them from the front, so thick that they seemed like a thundercloud as they crawled over each other to get at the party, and were only driven back by a chorus of flaming shouts as half a dozen dovah breathed fire at once.

  


Hans straddled Anna, hands around her neck, and such was his rage that he noticed not at all when Elsa plunged a sharpened icicle once, twice, three times into his back. Shrieking with rage and terror, she leaped upon him and sank her teeth into his neck. Hans bucked and Anna gasped for air as Hans hurled Elsa to the ground. Angel rushed over and was driven back by a half dozen heartless, and only Tidus' quick intervention saved him from being overwhelmed. Elsa spat out a chunk of Hans' throat, rose to her feet, and backhanded him so that he staggered and fell onto his back. She raised her foot and stomped him in the face, and a wave of razor sharp icicles erupted around them as she stabbed her sharpened heel into his eye, his mouth, his cheek. “You! Will never! Touch her! Again!” Wild-eyed, she called a tornado of subzero cold and hurled Hans a hundred feet into the air, then collapsed into the dirt.

  


Kaal howled with glee at seeing this new target, and rammed it head on, using his icy helm for maximum impact. Hans' broken form shot downward and landed with an impact that drove a cloud of broken rock into the air. Angel exchanged a few hurried words with Lyra, then fired waves of light from his hands that sent the heartless running. By the time they recovered themselves and turned to charge him again, he was halfway through a complex incantation. They rushed at him from all sides as he hurled a ball of light downwards, and a cloud of blue light erupted from him and set every last heartless around him on fire. He paused long enough to fire a healing spell at Anna, then glowed with sunfire and charged into the burning heartless, battering them with his bare hands.

  


Yuna cried out as a heartless ripped into her petals, and Tidus managed to bash one to pieces with his buckler before being knocked down. Will sliced two of them apart with a single graceful motion, and Yuna, pale and shaking, managed to set off another healing spell. Anna, gasping for breath, staggered over to a blood-covered Elsa and did her best to calm her. Above them, PaarThurnax led the dovah in a v-formation that sprayed flame across the plain.

  


An aura of white flame surrounded Angel as he fired blasts of exploding sunfire into the host of the enemy. Those who came too close were greeted with rays of blueish energy that sent them fleeing, or else with his rapidly flying fists. Anna held her shaken lover and turned her head in his direction. “Look!”

  


The various bloodstains on Angel's robes disappeared as he triggered another grand healing spell. His aura faded but was replaced by a blizzard of shimmering ice that lanced into the air and detonated, spraying icicles that embedded themselves in the heartless before themselves exploding. The remaining heartless charged at him, and Anna gasped because he was outnumbered at least a hundred to one. He gestured, and the heartless staggered back as a circular wall of swirling flame erupted into being around him. He charged undaunted through the flame, picked up a burning heartless, and threw it into a pile of its compatriots, who panicked and ran as they were set on fire. Another wave of heartless charged, and he leaped to the side as Tidus met their charge with eight perfect slashes of his sword. Before the rest could overwhelm him, he leaped gracefully into the air. Yuna cried out as she launched a glowing, spherical seed at him, and he turned upside down in midair and kicked it right into the center of the remaining heartless, setting off an explosion that sent them flying everywhere. Tidus landed on his feet and ran to Yuna, and before any of the remaining heartless could turn to chase him, Angel set himself in their path and planted his feet.

  


_Yol! Toor! Shul!_

  


A blast of flame fully as strong as those of the dovah roared through the air, and the heartless' ranks thinned once more. Anna held Elsa tighter. “Geez, Els, our kid turned out to be a badass!”

  


“Well yeah,” Angel said, retreating back to their position, “There was a lot of female energy in the house growing up. Had to become extra manly to compensate. Can you imagine? Two mothers, three sisters!”

  


_Three?_

  


Elsa's shout was echoed by Anna's shriek of delight and they found themselves pulled to their feet by a fierce shock of joy. There was a wave of all-consuming fire and a storm of perfect, scintillating ice, and when they came to themselves they were in each others' arms amidst a field now empty of foes. The area glowed with one last healing spell, and Angel was smiling at them. “I knew you could do it.”

  


Then the ground cracked and buckled. Anna went to her knees as an all too familiar roar echoed through the void. Yuna's petals wilted at the sound, and Lyra stared at her alethiometer and gasped. PaarThurnax stared grimly at the approaching specter of dark fire and knew despite his disbelief that his old master had returned.

  


Kaal rumbled as he flew beside him. “How?”

  


The old dragon shook his head. “When he was defeated, Alduin was purified. His darkness had to go somewhere.”

  


“Then let us fight him together, old friend.”

  


“Our Voices will not avail against him.”

  


“Then we must trust to our teeth, and to our friends!”

  


They spun as one and soared toward Alduin. Beneath them, Lyra spoke urgently to Anna. “Your keyblade! It's the only weapon that can destroy him!” Elsa nodded. “Just like the prophecy said.” She turned to Anna, kissed her fiercely, and summoned a freezing wind that catapulted the younger woman upwards on wings of fire. Above them, PaarThurNax rammed downwards into the black dragon, driving him ever lower. With a blast of energy and flower petals, Yuna launched Tidus up, and up, and he latched Brotherhood's hook into the bit of the Sword of Summer and Winter. He grinned at Anna, then spun and used his momentum to cast her further upwards. He plummeted down and was saved from the impact when Yuna launched Will upwards. Will locked the bit of the Subtle Key around Brotherhood's hook and spun them so that Tidus landed safely in Yuna's arms and he in Lyra's. Alduin spat flame at Anna, but it was blunted by a wave of snow from Elsa and truncated by Kaal biting into his wing.

  


Anna soared upwards toward the plummeting Alduin, now aflame from half a dozen blasts of dragonfire. Anna poured all her power into a stream of fire that catapulted her further upwards, just a bit further, just a bit further, and her world turned white and her flame went out as the shadowy dovah roared and opened his maw.

  


And in this whiteness, she heard a voice, her own. “I owe you for what you did for my Elsa.” Anna gasped and opened her eyes and saw another Elsa and another Anna hovering above her. The other Elsa, the one from the bridge, smiled down at her. “Go get him, Feistypants.” They reached down to her, strong arms pulled her up, and the whiteness faded. The Sword of Summer and Winter flared to life in her hands and she slashed at Alduin with all her might. Light and shadow erupted and stormed, and the flaming ruin of Alduin's shadow smashed into the ground and evaporated into black mist.

  


Anna fell through the air and was caught by a strong but gentle wind that guided her into Elsa's arms.

  


They gazed into each others' eyes, but were interrupted by Will's shouted warning.

  


In the crater made by Alduin's fall stood Hans.

  


Anna roared at him. “Don't you ever die?”

  


The black mist surrounding him coalesced into more heartless. “I'm one with the darkness now, and the darkness is eternal and all-powerful! For as long as you have regret and sorrow, for as long as you have any fear at all, even the fear of losing each other, the darkness cannot die!” The heartless started chanting, tunelessly at first, but then higher and more stridently. A cloud of darkness enveloped Hans. “Let me show you!”

  


Will turned to Lyra. “That's Latin, isn't it? You understand it, what are they chanting?”

  


“It's a song about anger and suffering, but they keep repeating one word in a language that isn't Latin. What the hell is a Sephiroth?”

  


~~v~~

  


_No._

  


_Not here._

  


_Not now._

  


_Not **him**_ **.**

  


Angel whirled. “Kaal! Take my parents to the door right now! This is a foe beyond any of you.” The cloud of darkness surrounding Hans took the form of a single black wing. “Run!”

  


Tidus brandished Brotherhood. “We're not going without a fight!”

  


Yuna grabbed him by the collar and ran. “He's not part of our story! Move!”

  


They ran as one to the door. Cold laughter echoed behind them, but Elsa and Anna were already at the door, and in a tremendous burst of light, their keyblade was out. There was a great vibration in the air, a ripple of an undefinable something, and the door was open. Pure radiance stabbed out into the night without stars, and behind them the laughter turned into a shout of frustration.

  


Lyra ran up to them, the hands of her alethiometer spinning. “This gate can only be sealed from both sides!”

  


Elsa nodded. “Will can seal it from your side, we'll seal it from the other.” Angel shook his head. “But you'll be trapped!”

  


Elsa smiled. “Love will find a way. Take them to safety, son.” She addressed the others. “We will see you all again.”

  


Angel allowed himself a grin. “Okay. Final words of advice. Make sure the nursery is fireproof, waterproof, insulated, and equipped with lightning rods. And for heaven's sake, soundproof your bedroom so I don't have to grow up too quickly!”

  


Knowing giggles rose from the humans as the dragons rumbled in confusion. Elsa and Anna shared in the laughter, then strode glowing across the threshold of the great door. Dovah and humans huddled together and Angel cast a Guardian Circle around them. There was a rush of black wings, and a sword, impossibly long, sang in the darkness just outside. Will raised the Subtle Key and set it aglow. On the other side, Elsa and Anna raised the Sword of Summer and Winter in answer. A wave of force from Yuna closed the door, and the door shimmered and began to fade.

  


A few moments later, the circle dissipated. Masamune slashed singing through the night, but the door, the dovah, and the humans were all gone.

  


~~v~~

  


Elsa and Anna cuddled on a beach of black sand. Great arches of basalt loomed over them, and a pale sun shone anemically over the gently rolling waves. Anna laid a kiss on Elsa's brow, her cheek, her neck, and there was no need to say anything. There was no way out, and they didn't care.

  


A timeless interval passed.

  


Elsa drank in her lover's breath, traced the outline of her face with her fingers, ran a hand through her hair. Anna lay serene on the black sand, and Elsa leaned over her and gazed at her with undisguised longing.

  


Presently, Anna spoke. “I'd love to stay here forever with you, Els, really, I do...” She stretched luxuriously, arms above her head, and Elsa's breath hitched in her throat. “... but we need to find a way to get back. Arendelle needs us, and I didn't pack any chocolate, and you must be...” She opened her eyes and saw Elsa all but panting over her. “... hungry...”

  


Elsa lunged at her with a cry, and Anna giggled into her lips as she felt the older woman melting the layers of her ice dress one by one. When she was able to break away, she laughed and made a show of pushing Elsa away. “Your majesty, please, we must attend to our duties!”

  


Elsa smacked her, lightly, on the cheek. “Don't tell me you've never wanted to try this on a beach.”

  


“Oh that's the way you want to play it?” Anna ran a hand across the queen's side, and when Elsa arched her back in response, she lunged upwards and rolled so that she was on top of her. Sweat and sand mingled on their skin and tickled delightfully, and when Anna nibbled on Elsa's ear the blonde convulsed and cried out. Anna sighed into her ear and slid a leg in between hers, and Elsa moaned and started to shake, utterly helpless to do anything as Anna pressed her chest into hers, the last layers of ice between them misting away. Elsa's hands flitted across her back, and Anna felt her own heat rise. Her eyes drifted closed and she saw her lover stormy and blue, wreathed in roaring flame. She ran her tongue up and down Elsa's collarbone, and Elsa rolled her hips and started moaning incoherently. Anna gasped as she felt an overpowering urge to _thrust_ and they _touched_ and shockwaves of pleasure stabbed into her body. Elsa spilled her cool wetness onto the sand and Anna's warm flow followed, and Elsa gripped her tight and started gasping her name over and over. “Anna... Oh, Anna... Anna, I can't... Anna _please_...” Anna stroked her and ran her lips over her and the queen's beautiful agony reached a crescendo and an anguished wail tore itself from her throat. Anna's mercy came in a kiss and a gentle thrust, and Elsa threw her head back and screamed her lover's name as sweet relief finally came. Anna moaned and sighed in her ear as her lover writhed and sobbed beneath her.

  


The queen's pants and gasps ghosted into her and made the world go hazy, and unbidden her own body began to writhe and thrust and tremble, outwardly and in secret places. Elsa's ministrations continued unabated, and all of a sudden Anna was _there_ , and she felt her own moment come amidst an intense rush of pure love for the woman in her arms. Elsa called her name once more, and as Anna rode out her storm she felt something new, something different, and a deep, deep part of her clenched so hard she nearly doubled over. Her eyes flew open, but somehow, Elsa knew exactly where to touch her, and a firm hand on the small of her back pushed _down_ and Anna felt an electric tingle lance through her abdomen, and then her insides leaped and she _pushed_ and cried out as she bore down with all her might. Heat surged through her hidden places and she couldn't bear it, she had to _push_ and Elsa thrust her softness into hers and Anna roared into her chest.

  


A wave of white heat poured out of Anna and surged into Elsa's depth. Anna's shout of exertion reverberated through her, and all of a sudden she was convulsing and writhing, drawing the heat deeper, deeper. A wintery storm swirled screaming to life inside her deepest mystery, and she cried out as she struggled to bring Anna's heat closer, closer. Anna shook in her arms, and Elsa was somehow aware that the younger woman could feel everything that she felt. There was one final, titanic effort, and the fire reached the storm, and Elsa screamed her lover's name one more time as the fiery storm inside her grew and grew, bigger than she could hold, bigger than the whole world.

  


~~v~~

  


The lovers lay exhausted on the shore. Waves lapped at the sand as the couple whispered love and gratitude in each others' ears. Anna's hands caressed Elsa's belly, and they held each other and wept for joy.

  


At length they rose, and Elsa dressed her lover in a dress of gentle ice. Anna caressed her, and Elsa was wreathed in raiment of dancing flame. They kissed, and a brilliant radiance flared to life in front of them, and hand in hand they walked through love's open door.

  


~~v~~

  


The sun shone brightly on Arendelle restored. On the foundations of broken Arendelle Castle, Elsa had raised an ice palace that surpassed the first one she had made on North Mountain, what seemed like a lifetime ago. But the palace itself almost paled beside the gardens and fields that bloomed beside it, for Anna had been busy as well, and the thought of starvation, so close before, was now far from the thoughts of any denizen of Arendelle. The nobles and citizens had gathered once again in the courtyard, and a great feast had been prepared. Ice sculptures depicting their adventures lined the courtyard, and Olaf had done a marvelous job of strewing crocuses about. Knight Captain Kristoff, a new sword of ice and fire at his side, held aloft the banner of Arendelle while Sven stood proudly at his side. KaalVurShaan, perched on an icy dais, gazed with amusement at the many children who despite their parents' admonishments had rushed to see the real live dragon of Arendelle.

  


The center of attention, though lay without question on the princess and queen. Elsa stood in front of the assembly, and Anna took her hand as she started to speak. As she spoke, it seemed to the people that they saw her now for the first time, not as the reluctant child-queen, but tall, ancient as the mountains yet in the full flower of womanhood, strong and fair and wise, and with a light about her, and the older ones among them remarked how much she looked like her mother.

  


“We have endured much, and seen many things out of both nightmare and legend. But I come to you today to share with you the secret that I learned on the day of the Great Thaw, the power that opened the heart of the worlds and returned our kingdom to life after the World-Eater tore down the sky. There are many forms of magic,” she looked at Anna. “but love is the most powerful of all. Love will thaw a frozen heart. It ignites hope and makes dreams come true. And it is stronger than death. Love opens doors and lets the world in. In fact, it lets many worlds in. I have seen them. They share the same sky, and love lights them all.”

  


She looked with love at Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, Kaal. “We did not learn all this alone. There are many who joined us on this quest, whom we loved and whose love we earned in return. A summoner. A living dream. A truth-reader. A warrior. A wanderer of time and space and possibility. An aedric goddess. A dragon. We shall come to know and love many more, for now the gates across worlds are open and will never be closed.”

  


She took a deep breath. “I know you have one concern left. Of all the announcements I make today, this is the most joyful. For the royal lineage is assured.” A joyful tumult rose from the crowd as the queen laid a hand on her belly and laughed. “This is mysterious indeed, for I am untouched by any man...” Anna blushed, but this went unnoticed. “... but I am convinced that this is a gift from the worlds, and the first of many. Love makes all things possible, and as I look at the sky above, the worlds beyond, to my friends whom I love, and to you my people, I say to you that true love is the most powerful and beautiful thing in the world.”

  


The people applauded, and Kaal roared his approval. “Now come the days of the queen. May they be blessed.” Elsa smiled radiantly, and Anna could bear it no longer and took her love in her arms.

  


In her time the kingdom had beauty and prosperity surpassing all the kingdoms of legend. It was filled with flowers and fountains, cool as the first day of winter, but bright as midsummer. Dovah soared through its skies. It became a crossroads of the worlds, and the magic and technology and wisdom of many travelers and many worlds brought it to heights unimagined. It flowed with gold, and yet over its inhabitants gold had no dominion, for it was love above and beyond all else that sustained the realm. It would win renown on its own merits, but also on account of the children of Elsa and Anna: Luthien the wise, who gathered to herself the lore of many worlds, Kristen the beautiful, whose music would be sung and played in taverns and royal halls across space and time, and Idina the Valiant, who with steel and magic brought hope and succor to uncounted thousands. And of course many tales were told about the firstborn, and these are written elsewhere.

  


But none of this was yet known to the Lovers as they snuggled in each others' arms that night in front of the fire. Anna nuzzled her wife. “Read me a story, Elsa.”

  


Elsa kissed her and opened the book in her hands. “Journeys end in lovers meeting, every wise man’s son doth know....”

  


**The End**

  


  


  


  


Afterword

  


At last we come to the end. Of this story at least. Thank you.

  


Why do we love Disney? Why does every wardrobe mean something special to a fan of Narnia? Why do we thrill to tales of wizards and dragons and magic? I contend that it is not, in fact, the magic, or the strange creatures, or the fantastical places, for there are things in the real world that put even our finest fiction to shame. One of the best decisions I ever made in college was to take a course on “the Metaphysics of Elfland,” basically a semester spent studying the writings of Tolkien, Lewis, and the like. My professor told me that what separates the Tolkien Legendarium and the Chronicles of Narnia from the rest, what makes them “high fantasy” instead of just fantasy, is that they have a strong moral vision. It is this that I have tried to place into my trilogy.

  


We travel to many worlds in this fan fiction, and I did not choose them just because they were cool. Each one of these worlds has something to say. Final Fantasy X tells us that life is a story whose twists and turns we must choose for ourselves. Kingdom Hearts teaches us that in the deepest darkness there exists a light inextinguishable. Harry Potter, in addition to its celebrated theme of love being stronger than any magic, lets us know that to accept death is to master it, a theme as old as fiction itself. (This is not hyperbole. The Epic of Gilgamesh, possibly the oldest surviving work of fiction, also says exactly that). The respective moral visions of Narnia and Middle-Earth would take literally a semester of collegiate study to appreciate in all their glory. And Disney, of course, has done the world an immense service, first by introducing generations of children to the allure of True Love, and in more recent years, to its complexity and its many forms.

  


The key framework of this story came together when I reviewed my Skyrim notes and realized that there was one quest specifically that dealt with the Power of Love. The Book of Love is one of the sweetest parts of the whole game, and its basic structure – a person learning about different facets of love by performing three quests – became that of this story. It is also where it takes its name.

  


Kaal, to my surprise, has evolved into a supporting character. He is complete in himself and needed no further development, and is content to give generously of his time and services without complicating the plot. Indeed, this seems to me a symptom of being a fully developed and loving person – your mere presence starts to ease and simplify the lives of others, rather than complicating them.

  


Elsa and Anna have grown as well. Elsa has gained a degree of gravitas, and always seems to know just what to say. Hers is a wisdom born of suffering, and while we do see her suffer here, we also see her using the pain of her past to help others through theirs. Elsa, as we saw in _Frozen_ , is a selfless spirit, and her pain has made her more, not less so. Anna continues to be awesome, but now we see her nurturing, tender side, for fire warms as well as ignites. She is a comfort to Elsa in her blindness, and when she is afraid. There is a scene early in the story where her attention wavers and she runs Elsa into a tree – her aghast reaction here is a deliberate contrast to the way she reacts when something similar happens with Kristoff in _Frozen_. Anna can grin sheepishly when Kristoff is a victim of her clumsiness, but it is more than she can bear to see Elsa suffer even a little. There are more hints of this later in the story, notably when Angel notes that they suffered equally in his birth. It is easy to imagine Anna using her magic to ease Elsa's labor, even if it means taking her pain onto herself.

  


Riften, a wretched hive of scum and villainy to rival Mos Eisley, is designed to provide a contrast between the worlds of Disney and the real world. The Temple of Mara, a sanctuary of love, is placed in the midst of what may be the worst city in Skyrim. It is telling, however, that the same city that produced Maul also plays host to Mjoll the Lioness. Even in the grittiest places, decency wins out in the end.

  


Elsa and Anna play a minor but crucial role in Yuna's story. Their encounter takes place in the middle of “Eternal Calm,” the short video prequel to _Final Fantasy X-2_. Here, Elsa and Anna introduce the first of several major themes: hope. Yuna famously says in _Final Fantasy X-2_ that she no longer wants battles where sacrifice mars joy, battles where one has to lose in order to win. Her development comes when she finds it in herself to hope for something better, and to let that hope drive her to action. Rikku complains that Yuna has put her life on hold. But when you have hope, such a thing is no longer possible. Yuna's appearance in the Floral Fallal dressphere during the final battle is symbolic of this – she has come into the full flower of her hope.

  


_His Dark Materials_ is one of the most amazing works of fiction I have ever read. Written by Phillip Pullman as the anti-Narnia, it would come with my highest recommendation, except that in his zeal to create an emotional ending, Pullman undermines the very theme and vision of his work. _His Dark Materials_ is all about throwing off the chains of orthodoxy and building a better world through consciousness and free will – it is a story, in short, about growing up. And yet by separating Will and Lyra, and worse, by treating this separation as meaningful, Pullman implies that growing up and being rational and free also means letting go of the people we love most, an idea that would surely send most of us running back into the arms of comforting fantasy and self-delusion.

  


My answer to that is reflected in the quote that begins this story. There is one key thing that Pullman's trilogy is missing: faith. Not faith in God or a Church or anything like that, but the faith described by Soren Kierkegaard, a faith that believes in the impossible and somehow makes it so. Kierkegaard was a Danish thinker and would have been known to Elsa, who lives right around the time of the golden age of Scandinavian philosophy. I have always felt that Will and Lyra were too quick to accept their fate at the end of the trilogy, when my heart and those of thousands of fans cried out against what seemed to us an arbitrary and life-breaking separation. It was a pleasure to bring Disney's perspective to this tale, which affirms that love makes all things possible regardless of which, if any god you leave in the equation.

  


The inclusion of the Wizarding World was a pleasant surprise to me as I wrote this story. J.K. Rowling's magnum opus is not the most sophisticated tale out there, but its core themes are among the strongest. The tale of the Master of Death in particular, fit well as a lead-in to the next part of the story. It was also a real pleasure to write Elsa and Anna doing the sexiest, most scandalous magic dance they could get away with. The music for this dance, incidentally, is The Piano Guys' mashup of Vivaldi's “Winter” and “Let it Go,” and should be watched by any fan of _Frozen_ , as it is in my opinion the most spectacular of all the covers of the song out there.

  


The next part was hard to write. I came across manicmethod's beautiful “From: Elsa” partway through writing “Komeyt,” and it left me depressed for several days afterward. As a Literature scholar, I have encountered and become immune to all manner of scandal and strangeness, but bereavement gets me every time. I have only now realized that the prospect of permanent separation from a loved one is an emotional trigger for me, and the reason why _Final Fantasy X_ and _His Dark Materials_ stuck with me for such a long time. I shall have to be more careful of my reading in the future.

  


But fiction is a wonderful way to work through one's issues, and in many ways, this last story is an answer to “From: Elsa,” which is reproduced in the story in the form of the messages on the scroll given to Elsa and Anna. The Elsa who lost her Anna was a complex character to write. I built her as that rarest and most endangered of characters, the rational suicide. I did a lot of research on suicidal ideation, and most people who go down that route do so impulsively, out of sheer emotional pain. The medical and psychological communities are agreed on how to heal such hurt, but it is an open question whether someone who has rationally and objectively decided that life is not worth living should be prevented from, in Dostoevsky's words, “handing back the ticket.” Albert Camus once wrote that suicide is the ultimate philosophical problem, and in his conversation with Elsa, Angel outlines many of the arguments for and against, and I am indebted in particular to the writing of Brad Warner, whose online article “The Buddhist View on Suicide” on Hardcore Zen was a key inspiration for Angel's final, decisive argument. As is revealed in the story, love and death are intimately connected. This is why the Temple of Mara in Riften is built atop the Hall of the Dead, and why Elsa and Anna's song is “If I Never Knew You,” because it was sung by a Disney character who faced death without fear. John Smith said it well indeed: “I would rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing you.”

  


And now we come to the issue of my second original character. Once again I have crafted someone who is in imminent danger of becoming a Mary Sue. His characterization and those of my other characters shows one of my biases, I suppose. I'm tired of growing-up stories, in which the characters struggle against their own vices and weakness. I prefer stories about powerful, wise, and good people struggling against forces titanic and profound. Angel, like Luke Skywalker, Clark Kent, and Frodo Baggins, is a hero who is heroic by nature simply because he was raised right. He has his parents' powers, he was taught the Thu'um by his honorary dragon uncle, he can walk between the worlds by virtue of the extraordinary circumstances of his conception, and his mastery of restoration magic is all his own. He is obviously no stranger to lore and battle, and has no trouble rallying Elsa and Anna's friends offscreen. However, the real conflicts of the story are not solvable by magic – Elsa and Anna must learn about love, and that is something they must do on their own. They do this admirably at first, and it is only when they fail at the bridge that Angel steps in. Technically, since he is the fruit of their love, they can still take credit for accomplishing their mission. Love finds a way, after all.

  


In yet another nod to Tolkien, Angel introduces himself by quoting Aragorn's first thoughts about Eowyn, whose beauty and sorrow make her Tolkien's answer to Elsa. The fact that Elsa recognizes the quote and makes one herself (how perfect that it is a baker who quotes Bilbo about butter being scraped over too much bread!) tell us that she also, in the words of C.S. Lewis, has “read the right sorts of books.”

  


There's another hidden quote there. “You needn't be afraid, I won't hurt you,” are Superman's first words to Lois Lane, and are a hint of how Angel sees himself. Superman gets quoted again when Angel tries to reassure Elsa that she is stronger than she thinks she is, and this is one of the finest Superman quotes anywhere, and forms a moral centerpiece to my favorite Modern AU _Frozen_ fan fiction, AnonElsa's r9kElsa Is Suffering. I love this story so much that I reference it twice.

  


The Wood Between the Worlds is familiar to fans of the _Chronicles of Narnia_ , and it was a pleasure to visit it as a writer. The Sea of Doors is of course from _Bioshock Infinite_ , one of the finest explorations of multiverse theory I have seen in any medium. What a delightful coincidence that Elizabeth's names resemble Elsa and Anna's! Constants and variables, I suppose.

  


The many alternate worlds Angel mentions are kaiserklee's “Tempest,” “r9kElsa Is Suffering,” 4mation's “Cafe Liegeois,” Arendelle's Drum Major's “A Date with the Drum Major,” and GenghisQuan's “Arctic Rim.” All come with my highest recommendation to Elsanna fans. “Cafe Liegeois” in particular sent me into a bit of a panic when I realized that I was not the first author out there to... well, you'll see.

  


It is significant that Elsa and Anna never receive a formal marriage. They are sisters, and there is no getting around that no matter how much they love each other. But a marriage is done for the sake of society, not the lovers, and Mara blesses their love not through a formal ceremony, but by converting their rings into the enchanted Bonds of Matrimony seen in Skyrim, and by restoring Elsa's sight, which had previously been taken by her and the other Divines as a price for reading the Elder Scroll.

  


The final battle is one of the most violent I have ever written, but also, I hope, one of the most spectacular. I wanted to test myself by writing a complex battle scene with many elements. _Kingdom Hearts 2_ fans will recognize the reference to the Battle of the 1,000 Heartless from that game, and the final battle against Alduin is pretty much ripped whole from the Bahamut fight from _Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children_ , right down to aid coming from the afterlife.

  


Sephiroth was a surprise to me. I didn't want to include cool characters just for the sake of including them, but Sephiroth makes sense as an avatar of the darkness in people's hearts – this is the role he plays in _Kingdom Hearts 2_. The fact that Hans becomes a Sephiroth Remnant like the villains in _Advent Children_ shows how low he has fallen – he is no longer himself, just another form for darkness to take. Sephiroth is not fought in this story – there's no point trying to put a permanent end to darkness, only in creating light. Besides, as Yuna says, he's not really part of our story.

  


The story moves on to the dark margin, and lovemaking on the beach for our heroines, in which they demonstrate that love really can do the impossible. They conceive a wonder-child, and their act of love opens the Door to Light. An open door indeed. The speech in Arendelle is directly inspired by the coronation of Aragorn in _The Return of the King_ , and Arendelle's prosperity and Elsa's final speech were sweet to write indeed.

  


The final scene of the trilogy echoes the first scene in which we met Elsa and Anna, some tens of thousands of words ago, in which one of them reads a story to the other. For stories are how we teach each other, and our lives are stories, and so the last one of my many references is to Shakespeare, perhaps the most legendary storyteller of all, who wrote long before all others quoted here about the Power of Love.

  


And here our fellowship comes to an end, and I commend you to the arms of the many fan fiction authors I have recommended in my afterwords, and especially to manicmethod, who receives co-author credit for letting me quote her story wholesale. Thank you once again for journeying with me! It has been a joy and a pleasure.


End file.
